“When Mama Goes to Work: Devin’s Story” follows Devin, the son of a working mum who parents alone, through his adventures. It’s an exciting life! At daycare he plays with friends from a wide variety of races and nationalities, like Devin himself. His mother is Irish/Jewish/Canadian and his dad Jamaican/Canadian. Spanish language lessons are included there with Ana from Chile. Also from Chile, and part of his extended family, are Paulina, Abuela and Tata, who speak Spanish with him.

His great-auntie takes him to visit First Nations cousins. He travels on two ferry boats to spend time with auntie, cousins, grandma and grandpa in coastal British Columbia while mum flys off in an airplane for work.
Devin cries when mum leaves, but Devin knows,

“Mama always comes back
Mama will always love him
Mama will always be his friend.”

Devin came to stay with us in Lund on the Sunshine Coast for a week when he was three years old. Monthly travel is part of my daughter Triona’s work schedule. It was the longest period she had ever been away from him. We had a wonderful time. He had his teary moments of missing her terribly and wailing that…..

“Mama doesn’t love me,
She’ll never come back,
She doesn’t want to be my friend.”

It broke our hearts, of course. Having parented my own three children for most of their growing years without their father, I am aware of societal and cultural pressures on women who either choose, or find themselves, the lone parent. Mother’s who work to support their family are inclined to feel guilty that their children are missing out on the two-parent stay-at-home traditional mum nuclear family life. In our own family history, this hasn’t been the case for the last four generations of women and children yet it’s still looked on as “normal”.
I wanted Devin to have a story of his life that showed how privileged his lifestyle is.

Originally, this little story was written as a Christmas present for Devin, in a binder with photographs. Hugh Prichard generously agreed to illustrate. I then self-published this book to make it available for others.

Roisin Sheehy-Culhane
PO Box 190
Lund, BC V0N 2G0

Here are some pages from the book:

Available now from:

www.xlibris.com
1-888-795-4274

ISBN 1-4257-0596-0
or at The Magical Dome