Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- New Introduction
- Preface to the Original Edition
- 1 Childbirth and the ‘Position’ of Women
- 2 In the Beginning
- 3 Remember, Pregnancy is a State of Health
- 4 Journey into the Unknown
- 5 The Agony and the Ecstasy
- 6 Mother and Baby
- 7 Learning the Language of the Child
- 8 Menus
- 9 Domestic Politics
- 10 Into a Routine
- 11 Lessons Learnt
- 12 Mothers and Medical People
- Endnote – Being Researched
- Notes and References
- Appendix List of Characters
10 - Into a Routine
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 14 April 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- New Introduction
- Preface to the Original Edition
- 1 Childbirth and the ‘Position’ of Women
- 2 In the Beginning
- 3 Remember, Pregnancy is a State of Health
- 4 Journey into the Unknown
- 5 The Agony and the Ecstasy
- 6 Mother and Baby
- 7 Learning the Language of the Child
- 8 Menus
- 9 Domestic Politics
- 10 Into a Routine
- 11 Lessons Learnt
- 12 Mothers and Medical People
- Endnote – Being Researched
- Notes and References
- Appendix List of Characters
Summary
It's like when you have a new recipe - a complicated recipe - and you keep looking at the book at first and then you can whip it up in no time.
When I think about it now - you see I don't think a lot at the moment - my life does seem trivial. I mean what is your life for? Now my life isn't my own any more; my life is to be devoted to my children now.
Daily Life
JULIET MORLEY, ex-rebate officer, mother of David, 5 months: The alarm goes off at ten past seven. We get up after the half past seven news. I made some tea, made Paul a piece of toast, had a piece of toast myself. David woke up about eight o’clock - no, that's wrong, he woke later than that this morning, because I cleaned up last night's dishes and things first. Had my wash. So he must have woken about half past eight, quarter to nine. After that I had my jeans in the machine and I was waiting for them to dry so I was wearing my dressing gown, and I did a bit of sewing while he was in a good mood after breakfast. He usually has a bath, I didn't give him a bath this morning, I gave him an all-over wash instead about ten o’clock. About quarter to eleven he had his nap for about half an hour, then we went down to the village to do a bit of shopping, about half past eleven. [Juliet moved from London to a Somerset village after her son's birth.] And he was hungry by this time. So he had his meal just before twelve. And then I put some more washing in the machine. He sat in his chair and played with rattles and chewed bits of celery. And then I took him round the garden, looked at the branches of the trees, that sort of thing; then I put him back to sleep.
I did some housework - I was doing the kitchen. He had his tea at four o’clock so I probably spent some time playing with him before that - if you play with him afterwards he's sick.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- From Here to Maternity (Reissue)Becoming a Mother, pp. 224 - 243Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2018