"Welcome to essayist Kimberly Harrington's poetic and funny world of motherhood, womanhood, and humanhood--not necessarily in that order. It's a place of loud parenting, fierce loving, too much social media, and occasional inner monologues where timeless debates are resolved such as Pro/Con: Caving to PTO Bake Sale Pressure ("PRO: Skim the crappiest brownies for myself. CON: They're really crappy."). With accessibility and wit, she captures the emotions around parenthood in artful and earnest ways, highlighting this time in the middle--midlife, the middle years of childhood, and how women are stuck in the middle of so much. It's a place of elation, exhaustion, and time whipping past at warp speed. Finally, it's a quiet space to consider the girl you were, the mother you are, and the woman you are always becoming."--Page [4] of cover

First.

I don't want to be dying in order to tell you these things --

Jobs.

Fuck. This. List. -- Job description for the dumbest job ever -- Super Bowl of interruptions -- I am the one woman who has it all -- Undone -- Dear stay-at-home moms and working moms, you're both right --

Time-out.

Just what I wanted, a whole twenty-four hours of recognition once a year -- "If Mama Ain't Happy, Ain't Nobody Happy": revised and expanded --

Vows.

Tiny losses -- If you love your grandparents, go visit them -- Let's have the wedding later -- It's complicated --

Time-out.

Your cute wedding hashtags twenty years later -- Kids, it's time you know the truth--your mother is a real piece of work --

Showdowns.

Overshare -- Thank you for including me on this meal train but unfortunately I'm a horrible person -- Your participation trophies are bullshit -- September 17, 2010: the day I turned the car around -- Ghosts of Halloweens past --

Time-out. Radiohead song or accurate description of my parenting? --

Are you sure there isn't something else I can do before the end of the school year? --

Schools.

Walls that define us -- Pro/con: caving to PTO bake sale pressure -- Punching season -- Please don't get murdered at school today -- I don't care if you go to college --

Time-out.

What do yo think of my son's senior picture that was shot by Annie Leibovitz? --

Anne-Marie Slaughter is my safety word --

Bodies.

Who does that? -- If you can touch it -- As young as we'll ever be -- Hot-ass chicks -- Ashes to ashes --

Time-out.

Fifty-one things you should never say to a mother ever -- Is there a parenting expert on this plane? --

Freedoms.

Do you have faith in me? -- Thirteen with dudes -- Just because you can, doesn't mean you should --

Last. --

You are all the joy -- When I die