Follow up: Mother Talk Sacramento 1.14.06

I've been meaning to post about the Mother Talk in Sacramento ever since I got back -- it was a great afternoon. Jennifer Margulis and I drove up together from Berkeley and arrived in Sacramento right on time to meet Sheri and Amy from Mamazine. Our hostess, Mary Beth, was awesome, and we spent some time before the event started just chatting with the people who showed up, talking about gossip magazines and celebrity babies and people with perpetually clean houses. Then we sat down and got started. We talked a bit about Literary Mama and Mamazine, and what both publications try to do. I read my piece from the Boy anthology and we had a lively discussion about gender and what boys are "allowed" to wear, play, act like. Mary Beth, our hostess, put forth her theory about people who are three: namely, no matter whether you are boy or girl, if you are three years old, you like things that are sparkly, you like things that are shiny, and you like things that are pink.

After a wide-ranging conversation on that general subject, Jennifer read her essay from the Boy collection, which I wrote about here. It's a very personal, moving piece, and afterwards some of the women shared their own experiences similar to Jennifer's. We talked, too, about how difficult it is both to write about the intensely painful and personal, and to work with that kind of writing as an editor. From there the discussion ranged even further, and people started breaking off into smaller groups -- and somehow nearly four hours had passed. Jennifer and I eventually said our goodbyes and thank-yous and headed back to the car for the drive to Berkeley. I finished packing, caught a few hours of sleep, and then headed back to Philadelphia.

Amy and Sheri also sent me a link to another Mother Talk they hosted in their area -- this one centered around conversation between mothers and grandmothers. They were awesome enough to post a transcript of the event here. (I wish we'd thought of doing that for these other events!)