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Cover ideas

We are playing around with cover ideas at the moment.

We need an image that sums up the book. It’s a book about a mum and a (gender neutral) baby. It’s about both the challenges and joys of having a baby/being a baby. You can read it to kids but it is for adults too. It’s got a sense of humour.

Tricky!

Here’s what we started with

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And here’s Leo playing around with the title positioning on what we’ve got now.

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It’s a work in progress.

The position the mum is holding the baby in is called the recovery position and both my kids have needed to be held like that when life gets overwhelmy in those early weeks.

Print samples

It’s still school holidays so painting has come to a standstill. Instead, our to do list is things like:

  • Go to the ice cream shop
  • Go to the aquarium
  • See Nan and Pa and the cousins
  • Easter egg hunt

The unofficial to do list contains things like Leo playing an awful lot of Reading Eggs on the computer, playing ball games on the trampoline, making origami and folding paper planes.

Today some print samples arrived. We want to get a board book produced because babies will tear anything else to shreds. They’ve sent us some samples so we can see the different finishes and sizes. Exciting!

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Easter Saturday scanning mission

It’s the Easter school holidays. Leo has had his first term of school and he’s loving it but he’s also tired. We’re all a bit tired. Except for Clem who has three naps a day.

Jeff and I were keen to get the illustrations finished and scanned before the holidays but it hasn’t happened, so it’s Easter Saturday and we decided to get what we have done scanned.

Going to Officeworks wasn’t on Leo’s to-do list and I found myself loudly despairing that he wasn’t into the idea of doing something we wanted to do for a change. I wrestled his PJs off, trying to get him dressed. It was not my finest parenting moment. Eventually we negotiated in a side trip to Woolworths for dominoes and some fish and chips, and we set off.

The irony of getting all het up over a project whose message is to cultivate happiness through peacefully being in the moment is not lost in me. (The scans look awesome by the way).

‘Buddhism for Mothers’

Sarah Napthali‘s book Buddhism for Mothers really resonated with me when I read it a few years ago. Its messages of being truly present with your children and practicing self-compassion are gently expressed but so powerful. It crystalised a lot of things for me – especially the quote above, which adorns a cupboard in our kitchen.

“I may as well show up for my life in the present moment rather than drift off in thoughts of the past and future.”

It’s such a simple idea, but it can be acutely hard to do sometimes. Especially when you’re having a difficult time.

I hope that our little picture book contains some of this wisdom (in rhyming couplets). I could write a thesis on all of the thinking behind our book, but I’ll stick to just writing a few blog posts instead.

 

The biggest thing I’ve ever done (apart from having kids)

This book feels so important to me. Like a pressing thing that we’ve got to get done because when it comes to fruition it might make a difference to someone’s life. In my wildest dreams, it could make a difference to lots of people’s lives.

Working on it and thinking about its message of loving yourself, despite all the mistakes you might make and how unsure and uncomfortable you feel, has certainly changed my life.

The thing that makes Jeff and I laugh about what we’re doing (writing, illustrating, designing, self-publishing and marketing a book) is that behind every part of it is a profession people work years to master. And we are trying to do it all! What hubris! But we are doing it anyway.  Continue reading The biggest thing I’ve ever done (apart from having kids)

The story so far

Some backstory on the origins of the (yet to be completed) book You’re Doing Great, Baby by Jeff Edwards (my husband) and Beth Taylor (me).

In 2012 Jeff and I started writing a picture book for new parents. We didn’t know exactly what it was about but we knew we had something to say to new parents:

  • You’re doing great
  • Be kind to yourself – having a baby is a major learning curve
  • Early parenthood can feel lonely and overwhelming
  • It’s hard work being a baby – they’re going through a massive learning curve too
  • When you and your baby can hang out and just ‘be’ together it feels really great
  • Your child is your greatest teacher
  • You are your child’s greatest teacher

We also knew all the things we didn’t want to say to new parents:

  • Advice about feeding, sleeping, eating, teething or developmental milestones

Continue reading The story so far

Introduction

Hi! Beth and I are starting this blog to follow the progress our new book.

The book is called You’re Doing Great, Baby! and it’s a picture book for new parents who might feel overwhelmed by all the sudden life changes and new responsibilities that come with parenting (and who don’t have time to read anything except picture books).

We want this to be a book that will remind new mums and dads that they’re doing their best and to reassure them that they’ll get through these tough times (if that’s what they are). There’ll also be rhyme and colourful pictures so hopefully babies won’t get too bored either!

We’re still working on it, and we’ll let you know how we go!

‘Sometimes you’ve got to be kind to be kind’

When Leo, (our eldest) was really little, I was obsessed with his sleep. I wanted to teach him to fall asleep and stay asleep by himself, but it seemed like the only way of doing that involved tears.

When he was ten weeks old we went to a sleep school and came home and tried to pat and shush, but it just didn’t work for us. One very memorable time all three of us ended up in tears and we knew it wasn’t working. We were sleep-school drop-outs.

During that time when all I thought I wanted was for him to learn to sleep by himself – out of our arms, out of our bed, as the books said – Jeff said something that’s always stuck in my mind.

You've got to be kind to be kind“Sometimes you’ve got to be kind to be kind”.

It totally blew my mind.

That simple truth cut through all the conflicting emotions I was feeling. My love for Leo, my desire to control him, wishing for a full night’s sleep, wanting to do the ‘right’ thing (whatever that was), wanting to hold him when he cried… All the stories I was telling myself just melted away with those simple words.

Continue reading ‘Sometimes you’ve got to be kind to be kind’