Come, Mother's Day and you spend half of your day pondering over the gift that you can present your mother. How about gifting a book that depicts the experiences of mother with her newly born baby? "Operating Instructions" by Anne Lamott is an excellent option as it chronicles the initial year of a baby's birth and the way the mother copes with parenting. The author, Anne Lamott, who has penned best selling works like 'Bird by Bird' and 'Traveling Mercies', goes to the extent of being satirical and humorous in this work. Despite this, the work remains amazingly touching as it depicts the way she tries to narrate her experiences with her sweet Sam at the same time, support her family through writing. Throughout the book, we witness the author considering motherhood as an adventure. Bestow this beautiful book upon your dear mom that she will surely cherish through her life.
The way she starts her book is so hilarious that you get an idea of the things to come. The complication of a single parent starts staring at her face as she struggles to support herself and her son financially. The fact that she is a recovering alcoholic makes matters worse for her. The memories of times when she "couldn't take decent care of cats" splashes into her mind, making her panic. Fortunately, humor sense is something that she carries along with her, through which she depicts life with her little Sam. Despite the normal concerns of a single mother, she laments that she is "much too self-centered, cynical, and edgy to raise a baby." A wrong step would spoil her sweet little boy. Though intensely overcome by despair and exhaustion, she stays afloat by her deep religious thoughts and friends who shower love and affection. All this serves as much required replacements for Sam's absent father.
"Operating Instructions" also explains the experience of a mother who is in her thirties, who decides to raise her baby without the support of his father. She authors the experiences that she faces during the entire procedure. Thus, the book becomes a chronicle of the first year after the birth of Sam and the way the mother coped up with the additional emotional pressures of parenting. The book draws attention towards the exquisite details and insights into a mother's life. It also highlights the way you take life at your stride and take pleasure in it simultaneously. Soon after reveling in the joy of being rewarded a precious gift in the form of Sam, she gets a shock revelation regarding her childhood friend Pammy's metastatic breast cancer. The fact that her childhood friend is not going to live for long comes as huge shock to Anne. Her brave commentary reflects the anger and strength which fills an year when, "sometimes it feels like God has reached down and touched me, blessed me a thousand times over, and sometimes it all feels like a mean joke, like God's advisers are Muammar Qaddafi and Phyllis Schlafly."
In humorous as well as in touching words, she pens her experiences about her pregnancy, the birth of her child and the numerous challenges that she faced during her parenthood. The work also sheds light on the development of Baby Sam, including the feats that he achieves along the course. Lamott also explores the relationship that she maintains with her friends, who forms an important influential factor in her life.
Gifting this amazing book would be a beautiful present to the mother who is sure to cherish the memories of tending you at your childhood. You can see a touch of sarcasm, wit, desperateness, religiosity and oddity in this book. It covers the highs and lows, thin and thick of a mother's life. These small events in the book will certainly make your mother feel special.
"Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year" is a book by Anne Lamott that depicts the struggle of a single working mother.