NotMoms, unite!

I know this is short notice (I just realized I haven't written anything about it yet, but better late than never...!) -- but if you're childless/free for whatever reason, and can make it to Cleveland, Ohio, this coming weekend (Oct. 9-10), have I got an event for you!

Karen Malone Wright of The Not Mom has organized what has to be a first: The NotMom Summit 2015, a conference for "not moms" from right across the spectrum -- from those of us (like me) who weren't able to have children to those who made a conscious choice not to have children, to everything in between. This promises to be a groundbreaking gathering of our tribe, with some amazing guest speakers.

Karen recently spoke with two different childless/free bloggers about her own story, her website, the conference, and childlessness generally: 

• Catherine-Emmanuelle Delisle of Femme Sans Enfant (Catherine's website is mostly in French, but the interview with Karen is in English, approx. 13 minutes).
• Jody Day of Gateway Women (approx. 37 minutes). (This was fun to watch (particularly for me as a Canadian, lol) -- Karen is so very American and Jody is so very British, and together, they are great!) 

And she and some of the conference speakers (including Savvy Auntie's Melanie Notkin) appeared on a local radio show, "The Sound of Ideas," to talk about the conference and the NotMom "movement."  (Approx. 50 minutes.)

All three are great podcasts & worthwhile watching/listening. :)

Sadly, I won't be able to make it to the conference (although a visit to Cleveland & the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame specifically is one of my bucket list items...!)... but I wish Karen much success with this project (so much so that there might be a second conference some day??), and I would love to hear from any of you who go!

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Another excellent (audio) podcast that I stumbled on this week: Melanie Holmes, author of "The Motherhood Assumption," which I wrote about here (and who, coincidentally, is a speaker at The NotMom Summit), was interviewed by Michelle Marie McGrath on her Unclassified Woman podcast.  (Approx. 51 minutes)

(Melanie pays tribute to Madelyn Cain & her book, "The Childless Revolution," as someone who personally inspired her. I found & read "The Childless Revolution" right around the same time that we made the decision to stop infertility treatments. The book covers the spectrum of childlessness -- by choice, infertility & circumstance -- and was one of the very few I could find back then to speak to my situation.)