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3.92 AVERAGE
3.92 AVERAGE
slow-paced
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
Midlife + motherhood = nailed it!!!!
Cried real tears, laughed real and ugly laughs. This book is one that makes me appreciate writers. Thank you Jessi for putting words to a page and sharing your talent with the world. The audiobook was perfection.
For the most part, I enjoyed this collection of stories. The author has a clear voice and I admire her ability to cut cleanly through the layers to identify some of the most confounding and challenging parts of parenthood. And yet, while she recognizes her privilege by stating she knows she’s privileged, she also…doesn’t know? Her chapters on night nurses and nannies made me actively angry. Here is a woman describing getting home from work, trading places with her nanny, only to completely fall apart in the two hours before the night nurse arrives. She espouses the frustration of realizing the night nurse feeding her son doesn’t mean she gets to sleep, because she has to pump overnight.
And all I can bring myself to say is…”duh?” My son ate every two hours, round the clock, until he was nearly six months old. My husband took shifts while I pumped. We worked out systems and schedules and shared the responsibility.
So this author, joyfully talking about all the help that she requires because otherwise she would have no one, made me sad. I’m sad she writes of her husband as so helpless and useless, sad that she doesn’t realize there are parents, every day, going through it alone because they don’t have a choice. Sad that very few of her stories can identify any joy in parenting. She’s not wrong, that it’s hard and thankless and confusing. But also, did you want a baby or a doll? Did you think about parenting or just the status of being pregnant? And for the love of all, why did you choose to parent a child with a partner you seem to at best tolerate? Oof, I’m getting sadder the more I think of it.
And all I can bring myself to say is…”duh?” My son ate every two hours, round the clock, until he was nearly six months old. My husband took shifts while I pumped. We worked out systems and schedules and shared the responsibility.
So this author, joyfully talking about all the help that she requires because otherwise she would have no one, made me sad. I’m sad she writes of her husband as so helpless and useless, sad that she doesn’t realize there are parents, every day, going through it alone because they don’t have a choice. Sad that very few of her stories can identify any joy in parenting. She’s not wrong, that it’s hard and thankless and confusing. But also, did you want a baby or a doll? Did you think about parenting or just the status of being pregnant? And for the love of all, why did you choose to parent a child with a partner you seem to at best tolerate? Oof, I’m getting sadder the more I think of it.
emotional
funny
lighthearted
reflective
funny
fast-paced
3.5. I have such mixed feelings about this book. I find it very relatable and humorous, but also pretentious and “WTF?”
Spoilers ahead.
How do you choose to have a baby and then not dedicate time to learning about how to care for a baby? So many resources available. It’s not that it isn’t hard and exhausting, but the day nurse and night nurse because you admit you know nothing is ….a lot.
One the other hand, the moments when you feel like you are bored reading a book or feeling like you just can’t play anymore and feel like a bad mom, were very relatable.
Overall, I’m glad she admits her privilege. It’s really hard being a parent sometimes and I give her lots of grace and understanding. But, at times, her introspection was just, again, a lot.
Spoilers ahead.
How do you choose to have a baby and then not dedicate time to learning about how to care for a baby? So many resources available. It’s not that it isn’t hard and exhausting, but the day nurse and night nurse because you admit you know nothing is ….a lot.
One the other hand, the moments when you feel like you are bored reading a book or feeling like you just can’t play anymore and feel like a bad mom, were very relatable.
Overall, I’m glad she admits her privilege. It’s really hard being a parent sometimes and I give her lots of grace and understanding. But, at times, her introspection was just, again, a lot.
3.75 if I could. Some really touching and empathetic essays on motherhood that I felt extremely connected too. Words that not everyone says out loud but we all feel.
emotional
funny
reflective
slow-paced
Almost had to stop after the first essay where the author is describing a butterfly hatching project she is doing with her son. She describes the chrysalis as brown, and the goes on to refer to the hatched butterfly as a monarch, which it clearly is not. Butterfly ID aside, I had a bit of trouble relating to this “momming is hard” collection, with her night nurses, babysitters, and full time nanny. Still, many of the essays touch on familiar worries and challenges and overall it was an enjoyable listen.
Another book with thoroughly unlikable characters.
What makes this worse is that these are 'slice of life' essays, involving real people.
The three stars are for the, occasional, things that ring true.
What makes this worse is that these are 'slice of life' essays, involving real people.
The three stars are for the, occasional, things that ring true.