Customer Reviews

You're Not The Boss Of Me: Adventures Of A Modern Mom

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I brought Erika's yellow paperback with a picture of a frightening man-baby with me to the dermatologist. The People magazines were all old, so I cracked it open for a look. First thought: "this book is funny" ... and the essays are the perfect length for a waiting-room read. What surprised me, and reason I am posting my humble review, is that mixed in with girdles, lap dances, and fetuses the size of crock pots, is a patchwork quilt of heartfelt sentiment that rings truer than any Hallmark card. If you are a mom who can become lost in the scent of your baby's hair, while forgetting to wash your own, then this book is for you.

These twenty-five amusing essays reflect on family life starting with the proverb that "Unsafe sex is so hot" as author Erika Schickel and her spouse Doug remove the layers of protection to go skin on skin resulting in the positive blue line appearing on the home stationing kit. Each of the entries are insightful as Erika's womb contains a foreign insurgent who starts as the size of a microscopic pimple but nine plus months later is a whale until she sheds the pounds naturally with the birth of Georgia and the new role of tushi cleaner. Talk about insanity, she and Doug begin the process over again. This is a fun look at family from the perspective of the mother as Ms. Schickel turns Erma Bombeck inside out with the pits and cherries gone as only the bowl requiring cleaning is left behind. Fans of humorous insightful looks at the modern security momma will want to read YOU'RE NOT THE BOSS OF ME as the parents learn who rules the roost.

Harriet Klausner

Parenting is hard work. Sure it's full of warm fuzzies, tremendous rewards, love, nice smells (sometimes) but also heartache, frustration and a lot of doubt. I sometimes feel a little insecure around all the perfect parents and their perfect solutions for their perfect kids. Makes me feel, well, not so perfect. When I first had my son I went out and bought Anne Lamott's book, Operating Instructions: A Journal of My Son's First Year, and discovered it's OK not to have a clean house, a clean head of hair and although not great, no big deal to drop your baby on the floor once or twice. During that first year, Anne Lamott helped reinforce the fact that I didn't have to be perfect and with great parenting came great mistakes. Nine years later, I just put down my copy of You're Not The Boss of Me, Adventures of a Modern Mom, Erika Schickel's keenly observant, no apologies look at life, motherhood, family and friendship. She's my new hero! Her interest in everything (check out Journey to Another Girl) and ability to really connect with life is delivered in a style of storytelling that invites us all to pull up a chair, snuggle in front of the crackling fire and enjoy the show. She kinnda makes you feel like her best friend and when she saves her best friend Rae's daughter from choking you want stand up and give everyone a hug. Traveling with Erika's through her life, which at times can be pretty damn intimate, is like sitting with a good friend and maybe a good friend is the only one who can tell you what parenting and for that matter what life is really all about. I laughed and cried all the way to the end as I connected and realized this is one mom who was never going to judge. Ms. Schickel is the Southland's answer to Anne Lamott, only a little bit hipper with a lot more edge but not edge like an Alterna-Mom, but edge like as in a cool human being. On the road to making a family, this book should be on the top of your list!

Schikel really captures those "special" moments in parenting - the teary or embarassing or chest busting pride moments. But more than that, she relives for me the everyday rituals, common dramas, myriad of park visits - all of those moments I mean to record but opt instead for sleep at the end of a long day.

When I laugh or get choked up while reading this book it's because Schikel has given a voice to and helps me gain perspective on the new "Me" - as mother.

this is not the helpful "you're not the boss of me, how to bratproof your child" by erica braun brown i was trying to get.



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Are you a trad-mom, an alterna-mom, a rad or bad mom? Perhaps you are prim and prissy, and if so you won't relate to this book. The rest of us will laugh, be shocked and muse over these honest tales of growing up. Erika is funny, she's hip, she's weird, she's normal, and she loves her daughters.

It was such a relief to read a "momoir" that I could so closely relate to on many levels. Of course, there were a couple chapters I couldn't identify with (one about "cats"-- which I hate-- and one about smoking pot-- which I don't), but it was still such a great read. While I don't have daughters (just one insane 2 year old son) it was fantastic to laugh at loud at universal truths of the strains of motherhood. It's obvious that Erika Schickel was meant to be two things in life: a mother and a writer.

What a fun read - quick, easy, hilarious. It's interesting to see how others plod through the ups and downs of mommyhood.

Erika's writing makes you feel like you're no longer alone in the universe. The island of motherhood is now shore-accessable on a make-shift raft, crafted by Schickel out of hilarious prose, lashed together with hemp rope, and manned by a most skilled, if hairbrained captain. The waves will crash over that baby, and you'll fear for your life, but by God you'll laugh the whole way there.

Never mind that Erika Schickel is witty and wise, irreverent and brave -- obviously a brilliant wife, sister, friend, and mother! -- she's also a masterful writer, confident, bold and wholly original. Don't be fooled by the title -- there's something for readers of all genders and persuasions in this smart, funny book...