How Early Motherhood Felt to Me (Fasten Your Seatbelts!)

Or, the omitted Introduction to my book...

Note: This is a long one, so if you’re reading the email version of this post you’ll probably need to follow the “read entire email” link or click through to Substack to view the comic + post in it’s entirety.

I wrote/drew the following comic a few years ago, when I was starting my book writing process.

At the time, it was intended to be the Introduction to the book, but at a later date, my editor and I decided to remove it because we agreed that it no longer felt necessary.

We also agreed that I’d find another use for this comic somewhere else down the line, because it definitely deserved to see the light of day (er—light of a screen).

So today, in honor of the 1 year anniversary of this Substack AND my 40th birthday (OMG), I’ve decided to share it with all of you.

I don’t know if it will speak to you in the way that it spoke to me at the time I wrote it (again, a few years ago—a lot has changed since then!), but I think it’s a really vivid time capsule explaining how it can feel in the early years of modern motherhood [or how it felt to me]…

Reading this now, I feel good about the fact that so much has changed in just a few years.

Like I said in last week’s post, I feel much less alone in parenting (er, flying the plane) these days. Yes, I am still the Captain, but Ben is taking the wheel MUCH more often and for longer stretches of the flight. I am able to take breaks and rely on him more. He’s getting better at steering and I’m getting better at trusting him to steer.

It’s a work-in-progress (and it’s taken A LOT of work), but I’m feeling good about the direction in which we’re headed.

That being said, I know that the majority of moms in this country (world?) are flying the plane without many—or any!—breaks and that’s what I’ve come to care about most: raising awareness of this inequity, encouraging mothers to demand more from their partners (and communities, governments, etc.), and speaking up for moms who need more support.

AND ALL MOMS NEED + DESERVE MORE SUPPORT.

[No one should ever have to pilot a never-ending transatlantic flight without an equally capable, knowledgeable co-pilot and/or a well-rounded flight crew.]

*This post is public and shareable so feel free to share it with any moms who you think might appreciate it’s message and/or feel seen by this metaphor—

Oh, and if you enjoyed this comic, remember that it’s the old intro to my forthcoming book, Mama Needs a Minute!, which takes on the topics covered in this comic in much more detail (and with much more personal examples and through funny, relatable comics)—

Lastly: thank you all for being a part of my Substack community. Want to further support my work? Become a subscriber—

Now I’m off to go on a walk and get a manicure and a massage because I’m 40 today, bitchezzzz! [I will also be trying to squeeze in 10000 other things today because it is still a few days before Christmas/Christmas break, after all…]

Happy, happy holidays to all of you and good luck out there, you Mental Load Street Fighters, you!

xoxo,
Mary Catherine

PS. I’ll be taking next week off from everything (except mothering, of course) so there will be no subscriber comic *but there might be a podcast for subscribers*—TBD. Thanks for understanding :)