Motherhood Uncensored Reviews and News

Maybe Baby - Matthew M. F. Miller's Infertile Love Story

It's sort of ironic that as I've been reading Miller's new memoir, our dear infertile friends gave birth to twins this past weekend. They struggled for the past two years with over 5 IVF treatments.

Truth be told, it's hard being friends with an infertile couple, mostly because I'm always pregnant or breastfeeding. Aside from the two miscarriages in between my first two children, we get pregnant extremely easily. So add that into the fact that I'm with a kid (and cute ones at that), I'm generally not the greatest company for folks who are really trying hard to have kids.

So, it is with an empathic eye that I opened Miller's book Maybe Baby, and dived into his experience as an infertile dad. Truly he offers a unique viewpoint into a topic that is most often addressed by women - not only in books but in blogs as well.

While a syndicated blogger (sounds fancy!) himself, Miller's writing reads less like a blog to me. It is formal (in a good way), descriptive, and rich; not the conversational banter that you often recognize as bloggish. In fact, if someone hadn't told me this book was written by a blogger, I really wouldn't have known. It just reads well, although the content at times can be difficult to swallow.

Regardless of how often we've been able to get and stay pregnant, I could certainly relate to Miller's excitement, anticipation, and sometimes bitterness (in one instance talking about his doctor who tried to relate a 6 month infertile period when trying for their 2nd kid to Miller's experience). Additionally, Miller talks about his own guilt for being the "responsible" party (he discovers that he indeed has a low sperm count) and how they as a couple manage that, along with the robotic sex that comes along with determined baby making.

Certainly Miller does not sugar coat his experiences as an infertile dad, and it's actually quite refreshing to read about a man so baby hungry.

Whether you're a blog reader or not, AND whether you're a fertile myrtle or not, you'll enjoy Miller's story. I'm saddened to learn that while he and his wife are pregnant, they experienced a vanishing twin; she's now carrying just one baby.

But in their situation, or hell, in any situation, it is still a joy to be holding onto that one sticky baby. We've all had that feeling of hopefulness.

I'll be sending some of mine over to Constance and Matthew's direction.

*If you'd like to win a copy, just leave me a comment and I'll drop your name in a hat*

Your Child's Strengths: A Movement I Can Get Behind

As an educator, I always believed that every child and student should have the opportunity to achieve great things. Unfortuntely, our educational system just isn't set up that way. For the most part, kids are taught using one or maybe two techniques. They're assessed using one or maybe two types of methods.

And a lot of brilliant kids are slipping through the cracks.

My methods were a bit unconventional, particularly when it came to undergraduate education. But I had my students create their own rubrics. I provided a variety of opportunities from which I graded them -- presentations, papers, tests, participation, etc. And, if students didn't do well on a test, they had an opportunity to earn credit by going back, fixing their answers, and turning in their redone test.

It was my way of making sure I reached every single student.

Jenifer Fox's new book "Your Child's Strengths" is part of an amazing educational movement that is calling parents and teachers to see find what their children do well and utilizing that to help them learn.

If you think for one second that it's about inflating egos, then you have totally missed the point. It's about observing yourself and your child and figuring out how you can capitalize on their talents to help them work on things they might need help with.

To be honest, it's not a new field of thought. But it is new in that we've been bogged down by "No Child Left Behind" that when we read it, the concept is almost shocking.

Fox's education and experience are evident in her writing, however the book is not all about theory. She provides case examples and practical information. No doubt, it's a hefty book that you will not complete at one sitting. But, you can flip through to find the information that is most relevant for you currently, and then return back when you require more information.

My daughter will most likely be entering some type of preschool program this Fall. And you can be certain I'll be observing how they capitalize on her strengths. She's not perfect -- no one is. And we all have areas of need.

But I've heard way too many of children getting lost in the shuffle just because they don't fit in with our so-called "tried and true" methods. And damned if that is going to happen to my kids.

You can read more reviews of Jenifer's book, as well as check out this movement at Parent Bloggers Network.