CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH

A Visit with My Grandmother

Pie Crust

Thinking about My Father

The Yellow Door House

OTHER CALLINGS

Babysitter Problems

Tuning in to Ozzie and Harriet

Getting Off the Plane

Death of the Full-Time Mother

Mother of Nine

BABY LOVE

The Ninth Month

Baby Longing

The Six A.M. Report

The End of Diapers

DAY IN, DAY OUT

Mess

The La-Z-Boy Lounger

Counting Heads

Swamped

FAMILY EXPANSION

Audrey Gets a Brother

The Third Child

Willy Walks

Night at the Ramada Inn

UPWARD MOBILITY

My Kids and Money

The Going-Out-of-Business Sale

The Ice Show Comes to Town

Chance of a Lifetime

Buying the Tent

TALK OF THE TOWN

Softball Season

Ursula Leaves Town

Marlon Brando’s Phone Number

The Norton Fund

School Play

Travelers Pass Through

More Babysitter Problems

CELEBRATIONS

Cutting Down the Tree

Shopping at Three in the Morning

Barbie’s Shoe

Charlie’s Birthday

YEARNINGS

Oklahoma Friend

Visitor at the Mental Hospital

The Lure of the Roller Rink

Greg and Kate’s Wedding

The Love Boat

On the Sidelines

Stranger in the Night

END OF ENDURANCE

Dressed for Snow

Tomato Sauce

Mom’s Problems

Flipping Out

Five-Mile Road Race

TERRORS

Car Pool

Reported for Child Neglect

Perilous Journey

Christa

CUTTING THE CORD

Audrey Turns One

I Want You

Lost Purse

My Daughter Gets Dressed

The Dollhouse

My Children Move On

Sailing Boats

GROWING OLDER

Sixteen

Joan Baez Concert

The Baby Stroller

Selling Our Land

Greg and Kate Have a Baby

MARRIAGE—MINE AND OTHERS

How I Married Steve

AJ’s Divorce

Argument at the Muffler Shop

Christian Marriage

House Hunting

The Knives

POSTSCRIPT

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

A BIOGRAPHY OF JOYCE MAYNARD