The Making of Momma Dee

How does one woman go from hearing, "You can't have any more children" to making the statement "About one hundred kids call me Mom"? Author D'Ette Owen did so.

In The Making of Momma Dee, Owen shares the story of her family's adventures moving cross-country to Alaska, with their three wild boys in tow. She also describes how she and her husband gathered a gaggle of other kids, their "collectible children," along the way, raising them with the wide range of parenting skills that such a diverse group required and gaining her the nickname Momma Dee. Exploding toilets, joining frequent-flyer programs at emergency rooms, establishing a demilitarized zone for the neighborhood, delivering babies, and launching children off the roof are just some of the events she recounts over their lives together. Throughout it all, Momma Dee's mission is to survive her rambunctious family and find her own purpose.

This memoir offers a collection of personal narratives detailing the life of one woman and the family she and her husband build around their sons and various other children.