Customer Reviews

The Imperfect Mom: Candid Confessions of Mothers Living in the Real World

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What a disappointment this book turned out to be. I expected stories about everyday women who struggle with parenting, but was treated to thinly veiled, sanctimonious snarking by a bevy of overprivileged overachievers. The worst was Mary Elizabeth Williams' essay on feeding her children. She began by intimating that this was to be a piece about NOT freaking out over every little thing we end up feeding our kids, yet she made it a point several times to mention (in the snooty, dismissive tone that runs rampant throughout this book) that her precious tots had never had fast food or soda, that she cringed when they enjoyed an occasional hot dog, and that she suffered guilt by doling out four M&Ms to her daughter. Oh, my! Four! How do you live with yourself? Despite her claims to the contrary, she clearly is a controlling, food-obsessed, weight-obsessed zombie. Instead of showing herself to be a relatable "imperfect mom," as the title deceptively indicates, she is merely one who sits in judgment of imperfect moms.

Almost as bad was Ayun Halliday's essay, which again purports to be one of those "just all us imperfect moms here together!" pieces, but in reality is a harsh judgment of other mothers. In this one, she skewers the women who participate in some unnamed parenting message board, lambasting them for spending all their time on the Internet, (which, strangely enough, seems to be how she came by all the information for her topic). Again, more of that rigid judgment against anyone who parents differently. We get it, Slacker Mom...you're cool and you live in a hip neighborhood and you raise your children better than other people do.

As an aside, the editor of this ostensibly humorous book about mom mishaps may want to reconsider inserting into future editions the unexplained off-the-cuff remark that an acquaintance was responsible for letting her child wander into a snowdrift and freeze to death. Quite jarring and upsetting in the middle of all the light reading.

If you're truly interested in reading about the trials of parenting and the mistakes we all make from a writer who doesn't pull punches, and who REALLY lets her imperfections show, I suggest Erma Bombeck.

This is a wonderful book written with humor, wit and straight forward truth. The essays in the book vary from hilarious to heart-warming. Easy essay put a smile on my face and many had me laughing out loud. If anything you should buy this book just read the authors account of when her 2-1/2 year old son pushed his playdate into an icy river. All turned out OK and I was nearly rolling on the ground laughing while reading it! :-) The author states that due to that incident she earned the "Mortified Mom of the Year Award". After reading about her self-proclaimed award I knew this book was for me!

I originally put off buying this book because of the "Disappointed" reviewer who stated it was superficial. But I'm so glad I finally bought it as it's now one of my favorites. I personally didn't come across anything superficial. Many of the essays were very true to life in that the authors wrote about the taboo things many mom's think about or have done but wouldn't dare tell anyone. If I did have to find find something "bad" about this book it is only that there will probably be a couple essays that you won't personally be able to relate to. But that is going to be the case with any parenting book. So overall I HIGHLY RECOMMEND this book! Don't put off buying it like I originally did! :-)

What a fantastic collection of brief, funny and real stories from moms! You can't help but be drawn into a book compiled by a woman whose toddler pushed a playdate off a dock and into frozen, deep waters, where miraculously the child was rescued. Yet, the reach of the Imperfect Mom is much bigger than near-disasters that befell good parents. In it, you feel poignantly the self-consciousness with which most of us mother, and mull the ways in which we too often disguise our humanness from each other. Imperfect Mom breaks it all wide open, but without the preachiness in self-help books, and the variety of motherhood manifestos on the shelves right now. My favorite was Susan Reimer's "I Love Them Differently" about the fiercely individual ways we love our children, fiercely different individuals that they prove to be. I also loved Jacquelyn Mitchard's "I was a Car-Pool Dropout"--the story of her dismissal from a carpool -- the shame of it all-- when she was a newly widowed mom trying to hold her family together. Mothers benefit most today from having the support and the shared stories of other moms. This book celebrates the need for a community of all of us imperfect moms.

I liked the concept behind this book but found the selections were rather shallow. The book did manage to get across the message that no one is perfect, which is fine, but it did not really explore issues in an in-depth way. It simply did not do justice to the constant and often heart-renching questioning that characterizes parenting.

I was hoping to be probed on difficult (ultimately unanswerable) questions such as: am I doing this right? what does "right" mean, anyway? how can I forgive myself for my mistakes, both real and perceived? what does my child feel about my imperfect parenting? what can I affect or change and what do I need to just let go? to what extent do I really have control at all? in what ways do I just need to chill out? how can I be more tolerant and flexible? etc, etc. I was hoping for a much richer exploration of these types of questions.

I found the stories somewhat entertaining but not very substantive.

I read this book with my book club and all of us were disappointed. We all have elementary aged or younger children and we were looking forward to using these stories as a springboard for discussions about motherhood. Although there were a few stories that were truly interesting, many were extremely annoying. Yes, these mothers shared an embarrassing moment or two, but also spent quite a bit of time making sure the reader knew what an overachieving, nearly perfect mom she really is. To the overachieving mothers who shared their stories I say, "Good for you!" but I wish I hadn't wasted my money and time on your book.

I read this while pregnant with my second child. It helped me learn that there are lots of "imperfect moms" out there and that I am not the only one. Sometimes you are so busy comparing yourself to all of your friends that make it look so easy, but then you realize that NO MOM is perfect...this is a great, short, easy read.