...babyville

babyville
Originally uploaded by geWi.

Just recently finished reading Babyville by Jane Green. I have almost all of Jane Green’s books (Jemima J, Mr. Maybe, Bookends, To Have and To Hold) because I love how she writes, but I definitely believe that her endings are really abrupt… I particularly like long endings, meaning, everything falls in place but the book still continues, describing elaborately how everything has turned out so well. I feel Jane Green lacks severely in this, like on the 2nd to the last page of the book, the heroines are still not in love then when you turn the next page, they just stare at each other’s eyes and they connect and boom! They’re in love and again, and THE End. Arrggh. I hate it! I want to savor every moment of their new found togetherness and not feel like you were left there hanging. Anyway, Babyville is a pleasant surprise. I absolutely love it! I feel like this is the best book I’ve read from her.. another plus factor, who would have thought I’d learn something from chick-lit!? but really, it’s amazing how much stuff I’ve learned.. it all seems realistic and true-to-life. It’s about 3 girls.. Julia, all she wants is to get pregnant and have a baby. She feels that a baby’s the answer to her a loveless relationship with Mark. Sam, Julia’s bestfriend does have a baby. But she’s super OC, she seems to think that she’s super mommy because she wouldn’t even think of leaving her baby with a nanny even when she’s super harassed and looks like shit. Then there’s Maeve, who’s the quintessential career woman who gets pregnant when that the last thing she wants to have is a baby. Guess who’s the father, it’s Mark, Julia’s soon-to-be ex! (Mark isn’t shooting blanks after all, as Julia said!) The twists are plenty and I love every single one of their stories. I particularly liked Maeve’s story because she didn’t realize that becoming a mother would change her life and make her life more meaningful. She positively bloomed in being a mother. But the most interesting was Sam’s story, the distressed mother. I wanted to kick her in the butt for her to go find a nanny for her son. And poor Chris, her husband who loves her so much is getting the blame for everything! Sam said Chris couldn’t possibly begin to understand what she’s going thru.. she’s tired all the time, she feels like she’s trapped inside the house..that Chris isn’t even helping with the baby. Sam feels like the only good thing in the world is her son and nothing else. She’s got post-partum depression but she’s not admitting it. I know it’s weird, but in a way, reading this book has helped me a lot because I’ve learned a little bit what to expect when I get married and have a baby.. I always thought that I’d be like the perfect mother to my baby, be with her/him 24/7 but I now realize that it’s just humanly impossible! I’d burnout, get sick of everything, become irritable with sheer tiredness…Going out for a day or two and treating myself doesn’t mean you love your child any less.. everyone, even full-time mothers need a day of relaxing and leisure and they surely deserve it. I also know that in spite of everything, it all comes down to your relationship with your husband. It’s the most important thing in your home, how you respect each other, love each other and care for each other that’s going to reflect on what kind of environment your child is going to live in.

Speaking of lovely children, watched the Amazing Race Family Edition last night and I absolutely fell in love with the Gaghan family. Waah, their kids are adorable!! They’re just 12 and 9 years old but they’re runners and the kids are so disciplined, wacky, athletic and competitive that they’ve become my instant favorites! They are soooo cute especially the little girl who is like a pint-size with wheels, such a fast runner! They came in 2nd place beating all the other families with adult kids.. I also like their parents a lot because they believe in their kids’ abilities and having well-disciplined and happy kids says a lot about their parents. If I had just one wish, it’ll be to have kids just like them! To learn more about them, click here.


The Gaghan family.. waaah ang cute ni girl!