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Rating: 
Summary: Great book for a soon-to-be first time mom!
Review: Come on Jessica from Michigan, lighten up! You didn't "get" this book at all, did you even read it? She's not actually charging her daughter anything, just trying to figure out what it really costs financially, and even more so the huge life changes involved in having a child. And her eventual point is that we ALL owe each other... in ways that you can't ever really count, and it doesn't matter because you can't count what you get in return either. I certainly owe my mother more than I could ever pay her, for the financial, physical, and emotional sacrifices she's made. I expect that it will be the same way when I have a daughter... in fact, my having a daughter is one way of trying to repay my mother. That's just how it goes. This book made me think, more than anything else I've read, about what my mother's done for me, and the changes that I'll go through when my baby is born. I laughed, I cried, and I have a whole new appreciation for my mom, and for what I'm getting ready to do. I plan to buy it for the next friend who gets pregnant!
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Summary: This book left me bitter towards the woman who wrote it.
Review: First of all, this woman has "unprotected sex for several weeks" and now she has the nerve to bill her first born for all the expenses. If she made the choice to to put herself in that situation then she should have been responsible for the outcome. Her daughter Callie was in no way indebted to her mother for her mother's actions. This book was dreadful and I can't imagine any mother indebting her own unborn child.
Take responsibility for your own actions, your child owes you nothing. So I guess Callie will be billing her mother for all Callie's psychologist appointments when she is older.
Rating:
Summary: I laughed, I cried - truly a great book!
Review: I read this book in a single sitting. Incredibly funny and fast reading, with the individual vignettes, it was impossible to put down. As the mother of five grown children, and the grandmother of 8, I found this book to be most entertaining and enlightening! How many of us have NOT wondered about the actual costs involved in bringing our kids into this world? It was refreshing to be able to look at Callie's "list" and know that those years are well behind me, thank goodness! Ah........ but I definitely could still relate. Betsy Howie has a special knack of making the reader feel a part of the unfolding drama of expecting and raising Callie through her first year. The book certainly brought back memories of my child-rearing years, and I once again found myself trying to find ways to "cut corners" with those expenses. :-) I found myself looking forward to the next party, the next "event", the next receipt... Another plus was Ms. Howie's reporting of the actual feelings she experienced with raising her daughter. Life isn't always a bed of roses when it comes to kids, and Ms. Howie honestly expressed her frustrations, her fears, her delights and her pride in her daughter. Such candor can often be lacking in works of non-fiction. And all of this is written with an underlying message that the dollars are not to be taken too seriously, that the expense is "worth it", and that in the end you get more than what you pay for. This is a definite "must have" for parents-to-be as well as grandparents, when the cycle actually begins anew. Which makes me wonder when "Bob" will publish HER accounting of grandmahood! It would be interesting to see which list tallies higher (been there, done that!).
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Summary: Humerous Look at Finacial Part in Having a Child
Review: I saw this book at a library display and decided to read it. What a refreshing and unique way of looking at having a baby, especially a daughter. I was able to relate to so many of the stories and laugh at the creativity of the author. Wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: The Perfect Book for a first time mom!!
Review: Loved it. I wish I had it when my daughter was born. Betsy writes about so many of the ups and downs of the first year. I will be purchasing it for all girlfriends when their first children are born!
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Summary: I loved this book!
Review: This book made me laugh out loud, cry, really think - like any good story, movie or bottle of wine. The writing is fresh and very funny. One of my favorite lines is when Callie is wearing a new dress that wouldn't allow her to nap because when she moved the crinoline woke her up. She doesn't get any stains on it with her "Ninja spit-up maneuvers". The author states that "Clearly, this girl was born for dry-clean only." That is funny stuff. There is line and after line of funny commentary about her child that makes me laugh out loud.
For me, the tally is secondary to the ever changing dynamic between mother and daughter : Callie and her mom, and the author and her mother. I like how the book is about how families take care of each other and in the author's case, her family is more than just blood, it includes friends, co-workers, and her community.
I like that at the end of the book Callie has the final say. Callie assures us, the reader, that everyone is okay despite the worry she knows her mother feels. This touched my heart (read: tears flowed) And thank you notes ARE the foundation of civilization.
Rating: 
Summary: A new angle
Review: We all owe our moms, but who can quantify it? Finally, we get the real answer from Betsy Howie, who is brave enough to tell it like it really is and funny enough to make the reader love agreeing with her. Having a baby in America truly is a massive consumer experience, but fortunately the author handles it all with an eye on what's really important. Take away the strollers and layettes, and what you have left is the love and caring that count. Howie is able to experience and communicate it all deeply and honestly. At points I had tears from laughing so hard, and feeling so deeply. Those who criticize her concept simply haven't read the book.
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