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Rating: 
Summary: I'm Okay, You're a Brat
Review: Excellent book. Dr. Jeffers breaks down the truth about parenting. It's not like The Brady Bunch or The Cosby Show! There are a lot of overwhelming challenges and problems. This book should be required reading for teens--maybe it would cut down on so many out-of-wedlock births. It also should be read by anyone who is being told they "are supposed" to have children. I love Dr. Jeffers' writing style. She is straight forward without being overbearing. This book totally cuts through the fantasies people have about parenting.
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent book to help with the baby or not decision
Review: I am deciding if i am ready to have children or even if i want to have children.I was hooked after the first few pages. I doubt that all these issues relate to every parent but i don't doubt that every parent will have experienced certain parts of this book for themselves. Thank goodness i was able to read this book while i am still in the decision making phase. It does come across as quite negative but there are any number of books skewed towards the positive. I believe you have to take it all on board and use what you can. I read it in tandem with Baby Daze by Erina Reddin which i loved. Read the two together and i think you might have a reasonably realistic veiw of what can be expected, or at least several points of view to mull over
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book to help with the baby or not decision
Review: I am deciding if i am ready to have children or even if i want to have children. I was hooked after the first few pages. I doubt that all these issues relate to every parent but i don't doubt that every parent will have experienced certain parts of this book for themselves. Thank goodness i was able to read this book while i am still in the decision making phase. It does come across as quite negative but there are any number of books skewed towards the positive. I believe you have to take it all on board and use what you can. I read it in tandem with Baby Daze by Erina Reddin which i loved. Read the two together and i think you might have a reasonably realistic veiw of what can be expected, or at least several points of view to mull over
Rating: 
Summary: An honest account of parenting
Review: I highly recommend this book to anyone who is on-the-fence about having kids. My husband and I have been undecided about having kids, and this book has been extremely helpful to me by reviewing some of the negative aspects of parenting. You really don't read or hear about these things anywhere else except maybe from your closest (and honest) friends w/ kids. There are also a lot of positive and honest messages about parenting in this book, and the stereotypes of conventional parenting are thoroughly discussed. I imagine that some of the negative reviews of this book are from people who are afraid to admit to the negative aspects of parenting. In my opinion, it can only help a person to hear both sides of the story.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting point of view
Review: I'm trying to decide whether or not to have kids, and I'm finding this book very interesting. While I do see the points of what some of these critics are saying-Jeffers is strangely negative for a woman with four kids (two biological and two step) and this book doesn't use a lot of research, just experiental anecdotes-I think it's worth reading. The negatives of parenting, and the facts that people need to have before deciding to become parents-often get glossed over and prettied up. As a thirtysomething married woman with dozens of pregnant friends and lots of family pressure to reproduce, I'm happy to read at least have one book that provides another perspective. I don't hate kids and don't think Jeffers does either. She's written a book trying to expose the hardships of parenthood, so those expecting her to wax poetically about angelic infants and perfect toddlers just didn't get the right book. Bravo for at least opening a dialogue! Whether or not I ever have kiddos, I'll be glad I read a straight-talking book like this.
Rating:
Summary: Awesome!
Review: Thank you Dr.Jeffers for this book. I have been childfree (not childless) but I constantly get asked "When are you going to have children". My husband and I just haven't felt the desire strong enough to actually intentionally have children. But, since I am the woman, I am the one burden with the questions, mostly by mothers wondering when I will be joining their "elite" society of motherhood. And why would I not want to join their wonderful world of no sleep, changing diapers, breastfeeding, and never again have a moment to myself to enjoy my life, let alone pee? I am not ready to make those sacrifices and I may never be. According to Dr. Jeffers, that's okay. Some people are just not cut out to be parents and the reasons to have kids aren't any better than the reasons not to. It is your decision because your the one who has to make the sacrifices, not your parents or anyone else. This book reaffirmed that I am not ready and I am entitled to make my own decision. Additional note: For those who think someone else's reproductive agenda is your business, you are incorrect. It is very rude to ask the wife or the husband when they plan to have children. It is none of your business and they would appreciate you not inquiring.
Rating:
Summary: I feel betrayed...
Review: To the author, Thankyou and bless you for this wonderful,insightful audio tape on parenting. You lay it out there and tell it like it really is. It was BY FAR the most down-to-earth, real life material on parenting I have heard/read in my 17 yrs as a mom. I have read books by the score on parenting and they always made me feel that I didnt quite measure up to the book's ideal,(more guilt).
Your words have provided great insight, comfort, and reasurrance that it's Ok not to fit societies mold of maternal perfection. There does seem to be that conspiracy of silence re: the frustration of raising children. This was a remarkable book and I feel sooo much lighter now..
Rating:
Summary: I'm Okay, You're a Brat
Review: Yet another fine example of how parents today do not wish to take responsibility for their own behavior, much less for their children's . Bad parenting = bad children. Period. Every day I see little girls looking very much like little women and boys acting like pimps, then I laugh when parents wonder why kids are having sex at 13 - oh, right, its music and video games. Well who's buying the clothes? Music? Video games? Or kids running amok in an inappropriate place while the parents carry on as if nothing were amiss. Who is teaching your child responsibility, manners, and respect if you as a parent are avoiding all of the above. Sure, go ahead and buy this trash, stick your head in the sand, and when you're 80 and wondering why your selfish bratty little kids became selfish bratty adults - think back to the teachings of this book and ask yourself if it was really in the best interest of kids or parents to publish this garbage. Irresponsible parents will eat this book up having finally found validation for their own selfish disrespectful method of "No Blame" parenting. Good parents may for a moment try to believe it be sound advice so as to find some relief from the often daunting (in the end rewarding) task of raising a decent human being, but their conscience will win over in the end.
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