HOW TO BABY

A New Yorker cartoonist offers an illustrated guide to what it means to have a baby.

Most women may not be “averse” to the idea of having a child, but first-time mother Finck, author of Passing for Human and Let There Be Light, problematizes the endeavor with a single question: “How do you ever really know?” No part of pregnancy, including conception, is easy. Aids like ovulation tests are fallible, and even after possible conception, a woman always wonders whether a pregnancy has even occurred. The joy of knowing that it has gets quickly replaced by exhaustion and often anxiety. Dealing with insurance companies and the sudden deluge of unsolicited advice are two other challenges that might best be viewed as “good practice for parenthood.” Birth itself can go “any number of ways,” and the newborn will look more like “a toy plastic dinosaur” than a baby. Afterward, the center of a working woman’s already busy world suddenly shifts to the tiny human she does not always know how to handle—or even breastfeed, because contrary to popular belief, the act “is not intuitive.” Demands will continue to assail a new mother from all sides. As the child grows, decisions—from what to buy for a rapidly growing infant to how to travel with them—multiply; so does the potential for running into the double standard that still forces women, including those who work, to be the primary caregiver. However, as Finck sees it, the trade of “brain space, money, time [and] privacy” for love, the “one thing you forgot had any value,” is still worth the effort. The author’s fans will no doubt enjoy her witty musings and the always-expressive doodle-style drawings that accompany them. So will women looking to embark on the adventure that is motherhood.

A funny and well-observed memoir.