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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
I wanted to like this book, but honestly really struggled to get past the first few chapters. I didn’t find any redeeming qualities to her “hot mess mom” persona she was trying to portray. With almost every resource available to her, it’s really difficult to relate to her as a mom with few resources. She’s got a night nurse and a nanny, and she wants to complain about how tired she is? Yea sure? Ultimately, rather than be a relatable collection of shared experiences and lessons learned, this is more of a collection of bitching and moaning without any insight or redemption. I’m exercising my right to not waste time finishing books I’m not enjoying just to finish them and returning this one to the library.
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Definitely entertaining but also rambling of a very anxious mother. She brought to light lots of things that we glance over as just “eh, you’ll figure it out” when it comes to motherhood and life.
It's not a bad book, just not for me. I read the first 4 essays and realized that essays about motherhood from someone whose life is so different from mine (wealth, nanny, only child, LA) and also essays that agonize over minor details, are just not for me. I know some find them hilarious and perhaps if I kept at it I'd find more to like, but after an entire essay about a pet caterpillar, I wasn't super inspired to keep going.
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
I disliked the first 150 pages of this book. I didn’t start appreciating it until the chapter where the author talks about hiring a night nurse and finally recognized her privilege in being able to afford this. Before this chapter I feel like much of what she wrote was pretty shallow and that she was trying too hard to be funny. It didn’t help that it was hard to relate to the difficulties of a mother who could afford to hire someone to install her car seat, a nanny who could watch her child (while she herself was also in her house cooking), and a wet nurse to wake up with her newborn at night so she didn’t have to. I’m glad I kept reading though. I related to her struggles with anxiety and I appreciated that she shared her success in writing mini-books to help her anxious child cope with his own nervousness. I’m hoping to try this strategy with my daughter now too. I’m not sure if the writing actually got deeper toward the end or if I just felt like it did because I was more open to hearing what she was saying when she finally acknowledged her privilege. In the end, I’m glad I kept reading and will consider going back to reread the first 150 pages with a new lens.
This was the best parenting book I have ever read. So relatable. So funny. So sad. Just excellent.
I really enjoyed her first book. I LOVED this book. Even though my daughter is turning nine, there are many motherhood phases described in this book that I remember so vividly in the baby and toddler stages.
Jessi's son Asher is SO MUCH like my nephew as well. Motherhood as the hero's journey couldn't be a better metaphor.
Jessi's son Asher is SO MUCH like my nephew as well. Motherhood as the hero's journey couldn't be a better metaphor.
Hero’s quest for moms. Staying is the real quest. Honest, raw, she finds her ajuma power at the end
This book was exactly what I needed to read. I cannot recommend it highly enough. For any mother who has ever questioned herself (so everyone). And for anyone who wants a little insight into all the complicated and conflicted emotions of motherhood. Go read it. Now.