(Just a quick post tonight. In my zeal to tame the shrubbery in the backyard, I failed to recognize a sumac bush. I’m an itchy, swollen mess.)

Apparently, motherhood is a hot, hot topic. I know that because I’ve been approached by two academic presses and one journal to write something about mothers’ political organizations.

I also know that because the Time Out New York said so. In their Aug. 5th issue, they review four new novels where the main character is a mother. The novels are: Murder Plays House, Reproduction is the Flaw of Love, Maybe Baby, and Within Arm’s Reach.

The author of the Time Out article says that the hip parent trend grew out of Ariel Gore’s Hip Mama website in the late 90s. Has parenting become an alternative lifestyle?