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A review by happiestwhenreading
Soldier Sailor by Claire Kilroy
4.0
Soldier Sailor is a short book that focuses mostly on the first couple years of new motherhood. The time when the mom lives in a perpetual fog of exhaustion, confusion, and resentment. Where her world gets flipped upside down, yet her husband’s seemingly moved along exactly as it did pre-child, and in some instances, easier than it did before a child.
Gilroy does a great job of hitting that middle point where everything feels so hard and demanding, yet so rewarding and exceptional. I remember thinking I couldn’t love a person more than my newborn, that I was finally doing what I was created to do (be a mom!), but also how damn hard it was. Every day was a new day of trying to navigate on very little sleep; the exhaustion was truly overwhelming during that time of life. Even the endless days of repetitive tasks became a lot to get excited about.
I am 17 years past this time in my life, and while it’s true that I miss some of those moments, this book almost gave me some PTSD moments. I haven’t forgotten how hard those days were, but I had certainly forgotten some of the minute things. I liked Kilroy’s blatant honesty with the difficulties of new motherhood and also how that changes the dynamics of a marriage.
Gilroy does a great job of hitting that middle point where everything feels so hard and demanding, yet so rewarding and exceptional. I remember thinking I couldn’t love a person more than my newborn, that I was finally doing what I was created to do (be a mom!), but also how damn hard it was. Every day was a new day of trying to navigate on very little sleep; the exhaustion was truly overwhelming during that time of life. Even the endless days of repetitive tasks became a lot to get excited about.
I am 17 years past this time in my life, and while it’s true that I miss some of those moments, this book almost gave me some PTSD moments. I haven’t forgotten how hard those days were, but I had certainly forgotten some of the minute things. I liked Kilroy’s blatant honesty with the difficulties of new motherhood and also how that changes the dynamics of a marriage.