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

~ Therese J. Borchard (Author)
Key Phrases: Tompkins Square, Mothers of Color

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

The supermom is a suburban legend. At some point, we’ve all forgotten to pack a lunch, yelled at our kids, or been late to soccer practice. This book is for every mom who has ever gotten angry at being interrupted from a consecutive five hours of sleep, or who has ever hid in the bathroom just to get a few moments of peace.

In this collection of thirty-six original essays, award-winning novelists, famous columnists, and bestselling authors tell it like it is, covering a plethora of confessions to reassure any mother. Gail Belsky writes about the emotional torture that led to the secret circumcision of her son. Andrea Buchanan talks about the pile of dirty laundry that saved her son's life. Muffy Mead-Ferro confesses to her slacker summer, three months without one organized activity. Judith Newman recounts the game of Torpedo that landed her and her twins in the emergency room. Jacquelyn Mitchard shares how she was expelled from the carpool for showing up late one too many times. Together, their stories provide an entertaining, affirming, and sometimes surprising look at the perils and pleasures of motherhood.

Poignant and amusing, The Imperfect Mom is a refreshing look at mistakes we all make in mothering and a consoling and hilarious testimony to parents who don't have it all figured it out.

About the Author

THERESE J. BORCHARD is a nationally syndicated columnist and editor of I Love Being a Mom. She has published articles in Parenting, Ladies’ Home Journal, American Baby, and The Washington Post, and is a regular guest on national radio and television programs. She lives in Annapolis, Maryland.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Broadway (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0767922662
• ISBN-13: 978-0767922661
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #443,449 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every mom striving to be perfect --and failing on a daily basis--will love this book!, May 21, 2006

By	Marg Stark "Author, WHAT NO ONE TELLS THE BRIDE" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars EXCELLENT BOOK - wish I had read it sooner!, August 5, 2007

By	mom23boys "mom23boys" (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews

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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! :-)

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Good concept, too superficial, February 27, 2007

By	Mom of a toddler (Guatemala) - See all my reviews

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.