Mothers of Adult Children

Contributions by Mirna E. Carranza, Susan Duenke, Nancy Gerber, Trish Green, Tabitha Holmes, Elizabeth Hormann, Sandra Jarvie, Anna Karin Kingston, Elzbieta Korolczuk, Deborah M. Merrill, Alison Nash, Chrissie Rogers, Ethel Morgan Smith, Jasmina Tešanovic, Linda White, Mary Woodville Edited by Marguerite Guzman Bouvard

Publication date:

12 September 2013

Length of book:

202 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

Dimensions:

236x158mm
6x9"

ISBN-13: 9780739183007

Mothers of Adult Children elucidates what happens when children come of age and leave home, creating new lives in the realms of work and relationships. Mothers from around the world learn that this is the point in which their relationships with their children must drastically change. Mothers often come to terms with the changes by accepting differences and providing moral and emotional support when needed. However, the evolutionary nature of mothers’ roles throughout the course of their children’s lives is not only determined by the mother-child dynamic. The mothering of adult children is a transformative role, and the stories presented here show that the dynamics between mother and child are also influenced by cultural events. Accidents, disasters, war, and other hardships also intervene in these stories of multicultural motherhood. This book reveals the problems mothers of adult children face and celebrates the outstanding accomplishments of those who mother through hardship.

Introduction
Chapter 1 - When Nana becomes a mother
Chapter 2 - Mad Hearts
Chapter 3 - Rethinking Salvadorian Mothers’ “Suffering” and “Sacrifice” in a Transnational
Context: Politics of Engagement
Chapter 4 - Mothering Adult Daughters in Contemporary Poland: Fluctuating Scripts of
Femininity in Post-Transitional Society
Chapter 5 - Motherhood and the Empty Nest: The Challenges of Letting Go
Chapter 6 - Prodigal Sons and Daughters? Mothers’ Experiences of Adult Children
Returning Home
Chapter 7 - Mothering Adult Sons Versus Daughters: The Role of the Spouse
Chapter 8 - Mothering Adult Children With Special Needs: Handing In The Uniform
Chapter 9 - Mothering For Life? Fractured Maternal Narratives, Care and Intellectual
Disability
Chapter 10 - An Adult Daughter Lost in Alcohol
Chapter 11 - Mothering in War
Chapter 12 - The Truth Is Never Ideal
Chapter 13 - Mothering Lost and Found Adult Children
Chapter 14 - Dreaming of Mothering; Waking to Joy and Tears
Chapter 15 - Rules of Engagement: Grandmothers, Daughters and the Mothering of Mothers
Chapter 16 - Generations
Contributors' Notes

Marguerite Guzmán Bouvard’s collection of essays provides a superb description of mothers of adult children. She includes essays by women from many cultures and many different socioeconomic situations that give the reader a panoramic view of the important work of mothers in the years following childhood. It is a significant addition to the literature on mothering.