Flour Babies- Anne Fine
As a new mother (and former teacher) these quotes struck me as especially true:
"That was the thing about babies, Simon decided. They were different from everything else. They were special. All of a sudden it was clear to him why everyone in the world was forever queuing up to blow raspberries on their tummies. Even if you were a complete hiccup, leading a totally sad life, a baby thought you were a real star, the best thing since sliced bread, and worth falling out of a backpack to get one last backward look at."
"What was so good about them was they weren't really people -not yet anyway. And so you could treat them differently. It was easier to like them. In fact, they were a bit like pets, the way you could feed and clean and tidy up after them day after day, and even if you got cheesed off, you didn't feel they should be pulling their weight more. ... People were a whole knottier prospect, with one side or another always feeling put upon, or taken for granted."
"Being a parent was pretty well a life sentence. Why, if instead of going to the hospital to have a baby all those years ago, his mother had stabbed someone to death with a bread knife, she'd be out of the gaol by now. Twice over, probably, if she'd been good."
"The more you thought about it, the more extraordinary it was, this business of having babies. No doubt about it, it was dangerous. It slowed you up. It tied you down. It cramped your style. It brought out the spy and nag in everyone around you. And it made being a teacher look like party-time."
"That was the thing about babies, Simon decided. They were different from everything else. They were special. All of a sudden it was clear to him why everyone in the world was forever queuing up to blow raspberries on their tummies. Even if you were a complete hiccup, leading a totally sad life, a baby thought you were a real star, the best thing since sliced bread, and worth falling out of a backpack to get one last backward look at."
"What was so good about them was they weren't really people -not yet anyway. And so you could treat them differently. It was easier to like them. In fact, they were a bit like pets, the way you could feed and clean and tidy up after them day after day, and even if you got cheesed off, you didn't feel they should be pulling their weight more. ... People were a whole knottier prospect, with one side or another always feeling put upon, or taken for granted."
"Being a parent was pretty well a life sentence. Why, if instead of going to the hospital to have a baby all those years ago, his mother had stabbed someone to death with a bread knife, she'd be out of the gaol by now. Twice over, probably, if she'd been good."
"The more you thought about it, the more extraordinary it was, this business of having babies. No doubt about it, it was dangerous. It slowed you up. It tied you down. It cramped your style. It brought out the spy and nag in everyone around you. And it made being a teacher look like party-time."