Yesterday I was sent a package by a friend of mine who has a small baby. It was intended to prepare me for the imminent arrival of my own mini-Flood (Puddle?), and as well as various baby-related paraphernalia it also contained the "little book holder – the nifty little clip that holds your book open while you read it!" She tells me that she thought it would be useful as she found it impossible to keep a heavy book open to read when feeding "and it was SO frustrating".
This plays right into one of my biggest fears about the impending birth (16 October – today is my last day at work for six months, which is rather terrifying). I am not so worried about squashing the little one's head or changing millions of nappies or leaving it behind in a shop, or even the birth itself. No. For me, the worst thing is that, from what I hear, it's going to be very difficult to read.
I have to say, this is hard for me to believe. I am a veteran of finding a way to get at my books, from under the table at dinner when I was little, to escaping to the loo when particularly bored at work (not, I hasten to add, at the Guardian), to forcing myself to overcome car sickness on long journeys because I just couldn't wait to find out what happened next. But nevertheless, this is what people say: when you pick up a baby, you put down your book.
My friend Jackie's lovely present, though, coupled with Sarah Crown's insistence that yes, you will be able to keep reading, makes me feel a bit more positive. So now the question is what to stock up with for those (so I'm told, though I can't believe it will be the case for me ...) wakeful nights and exhausted days. My mother says she took The Aeneid into hospital with her when she was having me. Hmm to that: I need something easier, something more distracting, I think. Any thoughts? And any tips for how best to keep on reading with baby in tow?
