QC (Book) Report, Part Three.

Daughter was about six months old. She was sitting on my hip one evening as I attempted to make dinner when Consort walked through the door. Before he crossed the kitchen, he got an impassioned lecture on the subject of my not been able to finish a single article in the morning paper. I loved this child more than I could have ever imagined loving anyone, but I was convinced my brain was turning to goo.

As I was ranting, I knocked over a glass with my chopping arm. Before I knew it, I had dropped the chopping knife and grabbed the glass before it hit the counter -- all without dropping the kid. I stared at the glass in wonder.

"Huh," I thought. "I might be working on three hours of sleep a night, but that is definitely something I couldn't have done before."

For any woman who has ever suspected giving birth created some subtle physiological positives along with the much-publicized negatives, I suggest reading The Mommy Brain: How Motherhood Makes Us Smarter. In clear, readable English, writer Katherine Ellison presents some of the more interesting scientific research on how the female brain, post-birth, becomes a more efficient machine. I found it confirmed many of my inchoate suspicions about my new-found super-powers. I found it incredibly heartening.

Read it and know that being a mother made you stronger and more competent in ways you can't even imagine.

It helps for those moments when you can't remember your sister-in-law's name.