Mommy memoirist Amy Chua and I share one thing in common— we've been humbled by our children, and have reconsidered our own parents in a new light.
I've heard from so many readers since I published my review of Hymn of the Tiger Mother.
Some of you asked, "Hey, Susie, have you had the nerve to writing a parenting guidebook?"
Yes, I have, I just haven't garnered huge publicity— which may be lucky, considering the scrutiny! I've written extensively about pregnancy, the grade-school years, teenage sex education, and how I was parented myself.
Here's my list:
"Egg Sex" from Sexual Reality
This radical childbirth essay is probably the most influential piece I ever wrote about being an "emerging" mom. If you ever see a pain-relieving vibrator plugged into a delivery room wall, with the nurse nearby, nodding approvingly, you know I've done my work.
How to answer 3rd Grade Homework assignments that require the child to describe their parent's "work." — You and your kid know the answer is controversial!
Mommy's Little Girl: Susie Bright on Porn, Motherhood, Sex, and Cherry Pie
The first third of this book is about my life as a parent of grade-school girl— everything from what they "pick up" on the playground, to how to maintain your so-called sex life as a sleepless parent. And yes, my cherry pie recipe which is guaranteed to enchant any lover for a thousand years.
I've had readers from High School to the AARP write me and tell me this was their "handbook" for how to construct their own sexual philosophy. Here's the intro, and here's the "erotic manifesto" I ended up with at the end of it. Roll your own!
I interiewed high school and college students about their sex lives— and this is what I found out. Check out chapters like "How Safe is Your Daughter?", (one of the best things I've ever written) "Co-ed Confidential," "Is There Good Sex After Vassar?" and "Totally Offensive."
If I was going to construct a young adult sex ed class, I'd use the experiences I learned in this book.
Finally, my upcoming memoir. I write about my own upbringing, amongst ambivalent Irish Catholics, emerging beatniks, and the generational struggle to stop beating the kids.
I consider what I learned after my mother and father died, and what I've concluded— (as well as what I am still completely dazed about). It includes the issues I raised in my review of "Tiger Mother."
Please let me know the most inspiring parenting stuff you've ever read... I'd love to know.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention Anne Seman's and Cathy Winks book, "The Mother's Guide to Sex." They put their considerable "all" into it!
Photo: My dad and my daughter, circa 2003.
