104 of 134 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Don't forget to have children! And employ a slew of hired help!, January 23, 2010
This review is from: All Things at Once (Hardcover)
Mika Brzezinski has promoted this book, by saying that she has advice that she wants to give, to younger women in the workplace. One piece of advice, that Mika likes to trumpet, is: "Don't forget to have children!"
Mika writes on pg. 4, "One of the first things I talk about, when I speak with young women about jump-starting their career - even if they don't ask is, 'Don't forget to have children...'" Ms. Brzezinski's publisher's blurb blares, "She shares a refreshingly pragmatic approach for the professional woman: don't wait to have children..."
However, when Ms. Brzezinski gets pregnant in her 20's, as Mika promotes and expounds in her book, Ms. Brzezinski is also privileged enough, to be able to hire a slew of nannies and back-up, beginning when her children are babies. Mika speaks of her supportive husband, and she is able to employ a squadron of babysitters and housekeepers, but nonetheless, Mika can't seem to manage, and although Mika has a staff of childcare aides, Mika bemoans continually about how depleted she is.
It turns out, that taking care of children can be quite exhausting. Who knew that children had so many needs?
Another reminder: It is really essential to have a plenitude of hired hands to take care of your children! Don't forget the fleet, of domestic help!
Even with assistance and support, Mika, distracted, falls down her stairs while holding her second daughter. There is panic in the emergency room thinking the baby might even be paralyzed. Luckily, that was not the case, and the fracture to the little girl's femur bone, is repaired. Still, this prompts Mika and her husband, to hire even more household help and caretakers, to make sure of always "having the kids 'staffed.'" (pg.112)
Ms. Brzezinski is able to employ an array of surrogate help (can't everyone do that) to handle all the 'things' in her life. "We set it up so the house could run efficiently in my absence - and even in my presence." (pg. 114) Even so, Mika laments repeatedly, about how drained and fatigued she is. Given that Ms. Brzezinski is dependent upon a plethora, of round-the-clock childcare and custodial stand-ins, it would seem that Mika's advice would be to think carefully and arduously, before taking on the demands of having a baby, or having another one; not to rush into it or take on the responsibility before one is ready. Mika's 'advice on motherhood' also seems a bit insulting, to all the working moms, working dads, stay-at-home moms and dads, and all those who raise children without a fraction of the help that Mika is fortunate enough to have.
Mika Brzezinski is on a morning show with a co-host, whose intelligence, even her own father calls, "stunningly superficial." If Mika's father feels this way about their program, others can't be blamed for thinking the exact, same thing.
It is deflating and demoralizing, that these "stunningly spurious," self-righteous, duplicitous, disingenuous, pompous co-blabberators, ended up bungling their way to having all this 'news' air time, when there is no doubt that Mika's and Joe Scarborough's main concerns, have always been their own artificial, egotistical, hypocritical, confusing, caterwauling histrionics.
Not surprisingly, Mika sounds the same way in her book.
Speaking of advice, whether you've remembered to have children or not, do yourself a favor, save your money, and instead of buying this book, spend it on a babysitter.
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17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
A Cautionary Tale--How Not to Have It All, November 23, 2010
This review is from: All Things at Once (Hardcover)
I read this book and thought Mika was wise to make marriage and childbearing a priority. But then it became the usual drivel. Mika may have borne two children, but she's been too busy with her ego and her career to rear them. She appears to have adjusted totally to this sad situation, as revealed by the family Christmas cards--one shows her daughter with a broken femur in a hospital bed, with a balloon caption claiming this is what happens when baby is naughty. Actually, it was Mom who was naughty--she didn't get enough sleep and tumbled down the stairs, managing to fall on her daughter twice. Then there's the one showing her husband, two daughters, and a stand-in woman, which asks the recipient to say hello to Mommy if you see her. The final example shows Mika, hubby, daughters, and a baby (not their own). Some people thought she'd had a third child, not realizing it was a "joke" card. Let's hope her daughters, when they grow up, have a good laugh on the way to their shrinks. This book provides a graphic illustration of how to have "All Things at Once" without really having the substance of any of them. How sad.
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29 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Delusional, March 1, 2010
This review is from: All Things at Once (Hardcover)
I got this from the library and finished it in less than three hours. Wow. Driven by what seems to be an obsessive need to be in the spotlight, Brzezinski neglects her children for a life that keeps her--rather than them--the center of attention. She freely admits that she finds true parenting to be a chore and would much rather be a "fun" parent. Being a parent means accepting that some days are nothing but temper fits and tears, whilst others are hugs and fun, and most are in the middle, with a little of both to keep things interesting. Brzezinski believes the proper way to raise her children is to take out loans and foist her daughters upon nannies and sitters so she herself has as little interaction with them as possible. At first I found this incredible; however, by the end of the book, it became quite clear that those kids may well be better off with people who actually want to be around them. If her horrific recounting of what happened when she believed her daughter to be paralyzed couldn't make her see the forest for the trees, well, perhaps it's best she sticks to her book tours and morning show and leaves her children in much more capable hands.
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