Today, it's my great pleasure to blog about It's a Girl: Women Writers on Raising Daughters, edited by the marvelous Andi Buchanan. It's a Girl, companion to the recent It's a Boy, is a moving, delightful, funny, deeply honest anthology, filled with women writers mining the rich and complicated mother/daughter relationship. I am honored to be part of it. My essay, "Zen Mind, Daughter's Mind" explores my daughter Hannah's interest in Buddhism, an interest I had hoped would be a source of connection for us.

It's funny--when I wrote the essay, I had forgotten that I had submitted "Zen and the Art of Extracurricular Activities" for It's a Boy. The Zen connection between the two essays is purely coincidental. It's not as if I'm some big expert on Zen or anything. I suppose it's not completely surprising, though--what I've learned from Zen (living in the moment, letting go of expectation, etc.) has definitely affected my mothering. I imagine that even if I hadn't studied Buddhism, the experience of parenting would have taught me exactly the same thing!

Today I thought I'd let go of expectation and this blog, and hand the reins over to Hannah so she can talk about what it's like to be written about by her mom. Hannah, it's all yours:

Yo yo yo Hannah in da hizzous! (Or something along those lines...)
It's strange to have your mother write about you... I remember all the things she's written about, but I remember them differently, from my perspective, and let me tell you, it's a lot different. I'm flattered when she writes about me, though, just because it shows she's thinking about me, and that's (usually) a good sign, well, since she's my mom. It's weird, though, to see how she percieves things I've said or done... and makes it sound like a whole other thing than what I meant. Sometimes negative, sometimes positive. Having my mom write about me has changed my perspective and helped me learn a lot about me- and her, too. It's different to relive experiences in somebody else's eyes... But I've learned a lot and I'm really proud of her...

Well, peace out I guess. Refreshments are in the lobby :D. (Had to say that.... bye!)

Awww. I'm bursting my buttons. Thanks so much, my lovely Hannah! And thank you so much, Andi, for creating a forum where such dialogue can take place!