Rating: 
Summary: Yes!
Review: As a young mother to be, I have been reading everything I can get my hands on about parent hood and pregnancy, and I have been constantly inundated with advice about these issues. I picked up this book thinking it looked like a humorous fresh breath of air between all the "What to Expects" and grandmotherly advice, and was happily surprised to find a whimsical parenting philosophy that for once was not preachy. This book gave me my self-confidence back, and made me realize that because I am a practical, caring person, I already have the tools I need to be a great parent, and that I don't need to follow every word of advice I hear from so called "experts."
Rating:
Summary: i absolutely loved this book.
Review: at last, a book about parenting that doesn't make me feel like a total loser!i laughed from the beginning to the end of this book. as a fellow slacker mom (and a single mom at that), i completely understand where she's coming from. i'm sure that playing mozart to your baby while in the womb is culturally enlightening and soothing to the soul, but i don't see it as a necessity. i didn't do half the things all these doctors and parenting advisers tell you to do, and my daughter is just about the smartest kid in her class, reading 2 or more levels above her current grade. i believe it's not so much to do with making sure you have the correct lamaze toys in your child's crib or painting the proper stimulating colors on the walls that will propel your child to success in life as the values you give them and the examples you set. i was surprised to see that some readers were so horrified by this book. mead-ferro is certainly not telling anyone that this is the path they should follow to attain parenting success; it's just her own perspective on raising her kids and exploring her relationship with her own mother. what's wrong with that? and you do have to let kids make their own mistakes. though it's hard to do, sometimes you have to let them fall and get up on their own. it happens in life all the time, and the sooner kids learn that, the better. you can't protect them from everything. while i wouldn't advise letting your kid jump off the roof, you have to accept the fact that they ARE going to touch the stove (so to speak) at one point or another to see if it's really all that hot. you may be able to stop it today, but there's always tomorrow. i think it's easy to judge when you're looking in from the outside. when you become a parent and see how hard it is to raise kids, to just get them through each day without killing themselves or losing your own sanity, it puts things into an entirely different perspective. i myself thought i would do all those wonderful, enriching things when i had a child. then reality set in. working a fulltime job and then coming home to deal with my daughter, i'm lucky if i have the energy to fix her dinner and read her a story before putting her to bed. despite that, my daughter is a happy, well-adjusted child who knows that she is loved. if she grows up to be a decent, honest person who can find love and fulfillment (in whatever she does in life), then i think i've done my job. hey, for those parents out there who have the time and inclination to do all these hyper-parenting activities, i say go for it. more power to you. bottom line, everyone is going to raise their kids in the way they see fit. not all methods work for all people. whatever parenting methods you use, if you love your kids and do the best you can, that's all anyone can ask for.
Rating: 
Summary: Interesting thoughts, but off the mark somehow
Review: Boy, it's interesting to read the disparity in these reviews. Either you love this book or hate it, I guess. I'm one of the few that fall in the middle.
This book is honest, no doubt. The author puts herself out there revealing way more internal monologue and passing more judgments than many folks would feel comfortable with. I definitely agreed with some of her core philosophies, especially in the need to relax and let your kids be kids, to make their own lives and mistakes, and the need for mothers not to "do it all". However, to me, the book reads more as a struggle to sort out her grief over her mother's sudden death than an attempt to parent well. It's a tough thing. Her nostalgia in light of that event, while I think it's genuine, makes the book seem off balance; like she views the past with rose colored glasses. Her attempts at humor fall flat because they are trying, ineffectually, like a bad make up job over a black eye, to cover the raw grief she is sorting through. I feel for her, but it makes the book hard to swallow on some levels.
It is an interesting book, there is a lot of depth there, but take it out of the library rather than purchasing it. You probably won't need it for reference. It's a one time read.
Rating:
Summary: LOVED IT!!
Review: BRAVO! to Muffy Mead-Ferro's confidence,wit, common sense and
sense of humor toward child rearing. I admire her perspective in life. Where was this little book when my children were younger?
Muffy doesn't pretend to be a perfect parent and I respect that.
While reading this book I wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. I have given Confessions of a Slacker Mom numerous times as gifts and will continue to do so.
Rating:
Summary: FINALLY, SOMEONE DARES TO TELL IT LIKE IT SHOULD BE!
Review: Finally I have read a "parenting" book that does not presume to tell us all exactly how to be parents, but rather tells us that we already know most of what we need to know to raise our children, if we are thinking human beings who love our kids. Every other generation -- we're talking thousands of them -- knew how to raise its children without all the parenting experts so can't we figure SOME things out for ourselves? If we do I firmly believe that growing up will be easier on our kids (it will be easier on we parents, too, as Mead-Ferro suggests, to the horror of some readers), and that when they ARE grown up they will be better off because they'll be self-sufficient! And isn't that they key to being a successful person? I would recommend this book to any mom or anybody who is planning to become a mom. It's short and sweet and that's what we busy moms need.
Rating:
Summary: Thank God for Slacker Moms.
Review: Finally!!! I am given written permission to let my kids be kids and me be an imperfect Mom and human being. I am the mother of two boys, three and six, and frankly watching them make their own mistakes, and letting them see me make mine, is what I think makes our family special. I live in a place where kids have day planners and birthday parties are budget breakers.
Confessions of a Slacker Mom is not the typical parenting book. It is a refreshing insight into the thoughts and concerns of a mom just like me, who realizes money and "stuff" can't fix every problem or guarantee your success as a parent.
My favorite memory of the book is "if your kid doesn't have stitches by the age of seven, you are over protective".
If you think you can bail your kids out of every problem and prevent every scratch and scrape (why would you want to?) then this book is not for you.
Rating:
Summary: A Refreshing Voice
Review: Finally. A book that speaks to the other side of hyper-competitive parenting. The moment I opened this book, I felt like I had found a new friend.
Mead-Ferro's parenting philosophy is that less is more when it comes to kids. Simplifying kids' lives actually forces them to be more creative and resourceful.
After I read this book, I got rid of six garbage bags of toys and donated them to charity. The day after I did this, I noticed a complete difference in my two toddler children. They appreciated the toys they had and found new ways to play with them.
Mead-Ferro writes that the more we parents do for kids, the less prepared they are for the real world. She is not suggesting that we should let our babies run wild in our houses sticking forks into outlets. But over-childproofing has its downside, too. She reminds us that we are doing our children a disservice by trying to create a world where nothing bad happens to them.
Of course, it's easy to understand why parents might forget this. Who wants to watch their kids fail? Mead-Ferro's stories illustrate that failure is sometimes life's best teacher.
Mead-Ferro's book isn't just a book about parenting philosophy. It's a lovely memoir highlighting her own childhood. I especially loved reading about her grandparents' legacies and how they overcame hardships through perseverance.
A fabulous, fabulous book!
Rating:
Summary: What a fantastic book!
Review: I live in the Suburban Capital of the World and have, at most recent count, 7 hyper-competitive moms on my block. The decision to have a baby honestly hinged on whether or not I could be a parent and not succumb to the frightening way that parents handle parenthood in my area...it's all about coddling the kids and sacrificing their marriages, livelihood and FICO score {{for the children}}. Please! I loved the "slacker mom" ideal and it took me back to my own childhood when children were raised and loved but not spoiled, overindulged and given an unearned sense of entitlement! I sent my copy to my best friend in Virginia who is also a "slacker mom"! She'll LOVE it and be proud to know she's not screwing up her kid by not revolving her life around it!
Rating:
Summary: Good, but marred by her defensive back-to-work approach
Review: I loved her matter-of-fact approach to kid-rearing, and most of the book reflects this attitude... like, for instance, a new baby doesn't care what you put it in to sleep. This approach has stood me in good stead through an often-overwhelming deluge of baby-store paraphernalia.
However, I was annoyed later on in the book by her defensive approach to the idea of moms (specifically herself) working outside of the home, and found this inconsistent with her general feelings of caring for her kids. She explains that children are enriched through exposure to a variety of caregivers... enriched, perhaps (if we are lucky enough to afford halfway-decent English-speaking, knowledgeable caregivers -- most of us aren't!), but perhaps traumatized also by the absence of the one person they thought had committed to care for them forever.
Anyway, a good book, funny, touching and true in many ways, but the last section was definitely a turn-off for this reason.
Rating:
Summary: and I always thought I was a Minimalist Mother...
Review: I read all the reviews before typing this and I was not really surprised by some of the negative ones. Hey, this is America in an election year, and you have to expect some victims of the "class warfare" propaganda swirling about us. (and *gasp* the horror of being called a conservative! whatever that was supposed to mean) Still, I don't see anywhere in this book that Muffy described neglecting her kids or not wanting to parent them, let alone NOT parenting them. Hiring a sitter and working isn't the same as not parenting your kids. Sounds like some of the negative reviewers aren't in their happy place as parents... (I live in an area where a half dozen kids is the norm and the kids are the only identity the moms have, so by heck they aren't going to stand by and read about a mom who sees herself as a real person aside from mommyhood. It gets quite vicious.) The most hilarious review was the one from the woman who has no kids. Whoa, honey, are you in for a reality check.
That said, Muffy has written a witty book about teaching your kids to cope with life. She has a self deprecating tone tempered with a very loving approach to her own family, at all generational levels. Her parenting approach has absolutely nothing to do with privilege; her observations would hold true at any socioeconomic level. Lord knows I have been on a tight budget while parenting just the way she does, and it didn't matter whether I had the money to make other choices or not. The choices I have made with my kids were all based on what was best for them and their achievement of successful adulthood. I got criticized when I didn't pull my third grade son from the Mean Teacher's class; I told him to be nice to her, and that he might as well learn right now how to manage when under the control of difficult people. That taught him that I had total faith that he COULD cope. It was a "slacker mom" choice on my part, but it was "slacking" only in a joking sense. That is the thrust of this book.
As a final note, in my opinion anyone who doesn't see the hilarity in the frantic act of competitive scrapbooking is wound too tight to appreciate the intelligence in Muffy's methods. (I don't think she makes fun of scrapbooking because her mom didn't meet Muffy's needs in that department! How bizarre is THAT theory? She obviously has plenty of great memories without a stinkin scrapbook. She jokes about it because the moms who are the biggest freaks about it actually neglect their kids to do it---I have first-hand knowledge on this one.)
I loved this book and I am in the ranks of those who will "gift" it to new parents. Can't wait for the next one!
|
