Breathe Deeply, This Too Shall Pass

Rating:
Summary: Got Teens? You've GOT To Read This Book!
Review: I wish I knew Kimberly Ripley personally, as I think she'd be a great therapist for moms in the throes of parenting teens. Just when I thought I was the worst mom in the world, I read this book and found out I wasn't alone. Lots of teenagers pull stunts like the author's and mine! And with Kimberly Ripley's humorous perspective---both she AND her teenagers survived the years of teen angst.

Got teens? Got friends with teens? ANYONE with teenagers HAS to read this book. It's hilarious!

Rating:
Summary: WRITING PARENT ACHIEVES SUCCESS WITH NEW BOOK!
Review: This collection of hilarious and insightful essays is sure to thrill the parent in all of us, whether we actually have children or not! Mrs. Ripley's mastery of the tongue-in-cheek style that is obviously so necessary to not only parents, but family writers in general, is evident on every page of this enthusiastic and enjoyable collection of essays. A must for any parenting bookshelf, it would fit perfectly between Dr. Spock and Chicken Soup for the Preteen Soul, it's also the perfect gift for parents of teens-to-be. Far from scaring them off, however, this collection of touching tales will only convince them all the more that the teen years are so very special and precious. (If only they could do something about the smell . . .)

Every nook and cranny of modern family life is closely examined under Ripley's keen eye for observation and unique habit of catching perfectly the understated hilarity of everyday conversations. From dirty rooms to music recitals, from student drivers to telephone wars, Ripley evokes the lighter side of family life that no doubt has her own children blushing to this day!

Don't believe me? Try the following examples on for size:

"At that moment I wanted to fall off my chair and slither away like a snake. What I had expected to be a mother's proud moment was a nightmare. And I still had to go home and write the review!

"When the show ended the music director congratulated parents on their children's wonderful performances. I got a cold hard stare."

-An excerpt from the story "Bacteria"

"When our older daughter is in the house simultaneously she and Jim wage what we refer to as phone wars.

'Jim, I need the phone,' Judy will demand.

'Judy, I just got on,' is the standard reply.

"Of course he's been on for so long the receiver imprint on the side of his head has grown purple, but he won't relinquish his prize body part without a fight!"

-An excerpt from the story "Is Jim There?"

"Her room, in addition to housing my daughter and whichever girlfriends she hauls home for the evening, is also home to three large pet rats. The caged little darlings peer at me with their beady eyes, and slither their nasty tails at me each time I enter the room.

"As they slithered and I ransacked, I was aware of their impervious aroma wafting throughout the supposedly "clean" bedroom. Their beady eyes watched me as I confiscated eleven half-finished bottles of caffeine-free Pepsi, eight damp bath towels, nine dirty socks, and more pairs of dirty undies than I could count. There was no partridge in a pear tree. She doesn't own a pear tree."

-An excerpt from the story "Unnatural Disasters"

Though I'm not a parent, as an ex-junior high school teacher in the public school system, these poignant and pointed stories had me rolling with the memory of past students and relived scenarios. When the stress and emotional roller coaster of raising a modern teenager gets to be too much, reach quickly for "Breathe Deeply, This Too Shall Pass" and give yourself an unexpected treat. Your only complaint will be that each story ends too soon!