How’s this for a Monday morning blog post (I know, it’s Tuesday)? See, I had planned on reviewing Babble’s book, “Dirt Is Good For You”, for which I had mediocre expectations. I categorized it amongst all the other let’s-rant-about-parenting-and-be-really-witty books (I don’t read them, I assume they’ll annoy me). The reason the book review didn’t make it until now is because I had to finish every story before I posted and I seriously couldn’t stop reading. Yes, it rants about parenting. Yes, it’s witty. And yes, it exceeded my mediocre expectations. And no, it didn’t annoy.
Wally Lamb, certainly not. A humorous and entertaining peek into other parents’ lives who are going through the same things all parents go through? Certainly. Over a dozen writers share their quirky parenting snafu (addressing a friend’s request to nurse each other’s babies) or conundrum (raising kids in the city vs. the suburbs) or admit to things parents are not supposed to admit (not being madly in love with your child from day one). Each story covers a different perspective and angle on parenting. In the end, it shows we can all mess up and toss around the same parenting riddles, and at the end of the day the kiddos will be alright. Parenting, with all it’s quirks and headaches and tough choices, is just a right of passage; we (parents and children) all turn out fine in the end.
It’s been awhile since I came across a book I enjoyed which is why I went through this book so quickly (brought it home on Friday). But it’s also a great book for picking up randomly and just reading a story or two. Think of each one as a tasty bite sized nugget instead of a full sized meal. Happy reading!
~Carla~
