Motherhood Summary

Kennedy says having children is transformational experience for all women, and "becoming a mother is the best thing that ever happened to me." Mothers are our first teachers, she says, adding that "when your mother believes in you, you believe in yourself and when that happens, there is nothing you can't do."

William Butler Yeats, a leader of the Irish Literary Renaissance, expresses a sense of wonder mixed with trepidation in "A Cradle Song" as he revels in the innocent beauty of a baby but fears the inevitable loss of innocence and separation as the child grows up. Linda Pastan, during a painful and difficult delivery, concludes in "Notes from the Delivery Room" that "babies should grow in fields, common as beets of turnips; they should be picked and held root end up." Sharon Olds tells how a routine task, such as changing...