Maybe Baby

Maybe Baby by Tenaya Darlington

The blurb on the front said, "Made me laugh out loud....". I did not laugh out loud. Just so you know I don't think the book was so funny.

Judy and Rusty have three grown children and a depressing life. They come home to beer and T.V. They do not interact. The three children have split and are now estranged from their parents. #1 Henry left to join a rock band. #2 Carson is suspiciously fem and leaves as it is becoming more obvious. #3 Gretchen goes to college, majors in women's studies while her parents presume she is majoring in something else. She is enlightened and breaks off contact with her parents.

Out of the blue, Gretchen calls to say that she is pregnant. She is living with a performance art, long haired, unitard wearing guy named Ray. Ray and Gretchen have joined a community in which the children are raised in a gender neutral manner. When the baby is born, only Ray and Gretchen will know the sex. The baby will be dressed in black. Said baby will have blobs of foam to play with so that he/she will not be repressed or brainwashed by gender expectation. If Judy and Rusty want to have any part in He/She's life, they will cooperate with the parenting theory.

In the beginning I did NOT like the characters. They were sad and living without meaning. Judy and Rusty had parented to the best of their ability and their children hated them for it. The children were experimenting with life at an age where they should have known where they were going.

Ray's parent's, or rather mother and boyfriend seems to be open minded (read.....living a pointless life but in an acceptable manner because they were cooler). Ray still doesn't like them. What is a parent to do? It seems you can never make the kids happy.

By the time baby arrives things are changing. Rusty and Judy have begun to morph into living breathing people with feelings that don't feel gray and black and brown and ugly. They have begun to see the ways that they can change and repent of their past........although their past was only lived without understanding of the damage they were doing. I began to see a bright spot.

The family reunites and love and understanding seem to bloom from the desert of their former lives together. They love each other. Judy and Rusty, even though at an age where most people are set in their ways, are able to make some life altering changes. It was surprising and beautiful. Can it happen for other people? I don't know. But it gives hope that we can all see the importance of family and love and relationships and do what we can to foster them and keep them alive.....even if that means admitting we were wrong to things we didn't know were wrong when they happened.

Rating 4 Didn't realize I was going to like it as much as I did.

Rating PG 13 Sex and some language