About this project

I started writing this in 2021. It was partly a scrapbook of things I had written about gender and childcare. It took on a life of its own.

For a while, I had dreams about having this be a real book.

On paper, with a pretty cover.

So I started looking at the submissions requirements for some indie presses. They all felt a little unfriendly. For example, one feminist press said to wait six months until their submissions window opened, and then to submit, among other things, “a brief marketing plan that outlines the following: your network, your promotional experience and capacity, and your ideas for positioning your work.”

I said to myself: I don’t want to have a marketing plan, I don’t have a big network, and I don’t have any promotional capacity. And I don’t know how to submit things to this kind of publisher.

Then I remembered that I am a creature of the internet, and what I am good at is posting things on the web.

So that's what I did with it.

Everybody who’s read or inspired the manuscript — Liz, Tamara, Mythily, Cynthia, William, Martha, Vineeta, Heather, Jessica, Dianna, Lauren, Kate, Elizabeth, Tracey, Ray, Soule — and above all, to my fam, and my partner (hi!).

I hope one day my kids can read this and imagine what it was like when they were small.