It Goes So FastMary Louise KellyLabel: Henry Holt & Company IncDescription: The time for do-overs is over.Ever since she became a parent Mary Louise Kelly has said “next year. Next year will be the year she makes it to one of her son James’s soccer games (which are on weekdays at 4 p.m. right when she is on the air on NPR’s All Things Considered talking to millions of listeners). Drive carpool for her son Alexander next week? Not if she wants to do that story about Ukraine and interview the secretary of state. Like millions of parents who wrestle with raising children while pursuing a career she has never been cavalier about these decisions. The bargain she has always made with herself is this: this time I’ll get on the plane but next year I’ll find a way to be there for the mum stuff.Well James and Alexander are now seventeen and fifteen and a realisation has overtaken Mary Louise: her older son will be leaving soon for college. There used to be years to make good on her promises; now there are months weeks minutes. And with the devastating death of her beloved father Mary Louise is facing act three of her life head-on.Mary Louise is coming to grips with the reality every parent faces. Childhood has a definite expiration date. You have only so many years with your kids before they leave your house to build their own lives. It’s what every parent is supposed to want what they raise their children to do. But it is bittersweet. Mary Louise is also dealing with the realities of having aging parents. This pivotal time brings with it the enormous questions of what you did right and what you did wrong.This chronicle of her eldest child’s final year at home of losing her father as well as other curve balls thrown at her is not a definitive answer - not for herself and certainly not for any other parent. But her questions her issues will resonate with every parent. And yes especially with mothers who are judged more harshly by society and more important judge themselves more harshly. What would she do if she had to decide all over again?Mary Louise’s thoughts as she faces the coming year will speak to anyone who has ever cared about a child or a parent. It. Goes. So. Fast. is honest funny poignant revelatory and immensely relatabl
