In this collection, authors transgress and uphold their maternal integrity as they dance at the edge of comfort and take up the challenge of exploring the boundaries of maternal practice– their own, their mothers, and those found in literature, media, or popular culture. These mothers assume a hopeful stance; actively choose courage over comfort; push through what is fun, fast, or easy, and show how they come to mother outside the lines in all its simplicity and complexity. As they bust outdated, tired, and ambiguous boundaries, they find and (re)set new boundaries that restore dignity and self-respect for themselves, their children, their families, and for the matricentric feminist collective, particularly those whose voices may continue to be silenced and marginalized by structures and limits beyond their control. Thirteen stories are threaded together to form a compelling tale showing how and why some mothers, when faced with ambiguous and untenable boundaries, resist the urge to accept the assumed, the unpredictable, even the demanded–whether they be internal or external, visible or invisible, real or imaginary.

Dr Jodi Pawluski is a world-renowned Canadian neuroscientist who specializes in the neuroscience of motherhood and perinatal mental illness. Her research is affiliated with the University of Rennes, France. As a scientist and therapist, she campaigns for improving our understanding of the parental brain, recognition of the importance of perinatal mental health, and better care for parents. She is a mother of 2 and knows, firsthand, what it is to be a parent.

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