Motherhood, Smotherhood: a hilarious book on the sometimes non-hilarious world of parenting
Motherhood Smotherhood by J.J. Keith
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book immensely and wish it had been around when I had my first child many years ago. It might have saved me from many lost hours I can never get back reading and listening to a lot of judgmental, absolutist BS on how to be a parent! Luckily I have a new baby, so I needed to hear some of this stuff again. This book stands head and shoulders above most of the rest of literature for expectant and new parents in that it is a real-world, common sense approach to how to make the transition from relatively happy-go-lucky childless adult, to parent without losing your mind, or your sense of identity. (The title says “motherhood,” but really, unless they’re not planning to do any parenting, dads could use this book too.)
The author combines her personal experience with scientific research into many areas of parenting infants and toddlers such as feeding, sleeping, diapering, the so-called “mommy wars” (barf), birthday parties, vaccinating, and other areas that tend to confuse and polarize parents, at least online. She does the reader a great service by reminding that when a child is beyond infancy, no one will remember which doctrinaire approach to sleeping/diapering/feeding/etc you used. The kid will only remember whether he or she felt loved and cared for.
One important thing to note is that this book is not only very informative but hilarious! I laughed out loud in every chapter. This book is wonderful to read and as useful if not more so that another book I like to give to expectant and new parents: Operating Instructions by Anne Lamott. It’s funnier and more informative than The Girlfriends Guides (which I thought were very funny during my first pregnancy). I recommend it highly and plan to give it as a gift to new parents. It’s one of those rare treats in the world of useful nonfiction that entertains, educates, and made me feel less alone at a time of huge transition.
