I spoke at the Association for Research on Mothering Conference in October, and I met with other mother organizations to talk about creating a network. We thought, "If we join all of our readers, participants, and activists together, what a huge network of mothers this will be!" Thus, Literary Mama became one of the the founding members of a new International Mothers Network. Check it out, and sign up your mother organization!

This conference was the first that I have attended in many years. Being a single mom of a young child and trying to attend conferences helped knock me out of the college teaching profession. But now, my daughter is independent enough to spend a weekend with grandma, and that makes travel so much easier.

What a conference, too. Great panels, interesting speakers, and engaging meetings. It was well worth it. I had lunch with Lisa Chiau, who will now be joining us as at Literary Mama. I also had lunch with Amy Anderson from MamaZine and Jennifer Niesslein from Brain, Child. I had drinks with Joy Rose from MamapaIooza and met so many wonderful people who I had long wanted to see face-to-face. Well worth the slight anxiousness about international travel away from my daughter!