The author reflects on the challenges of new parenthood, describing how even familiar comforts in her Brooklyn neighborhood became overwhelming after her daughter's birth. Simplistic details, like local shops, lost their charm and instead felt surreal. In a pivotal moment at a sandwich shop, she finds solace in a deceptively simple meatloaf sandwich, igniting a sense of hunger and connection. This experience helps her regain a sense of normalcy amidst the chaos of parenthood, underlining the importance of small pleasures in a tumultuous period.
After my daughter was born, everything felt hard. Even my quaint Brooklyn neighborhood began to sour for me. The stuffed raccoon on its hind legs in the coffee shop window, the plant store with only four plants, the fedora shop: It all seemed like a kitschy Hollywood back lot.
At first, my sandwich a slab of meatloaf slathered in a tangy sauce on a roll the size of a Nerf football seemed like another test I would fail.
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