Title: Sh*tty Mom For All Seasons - Half-@ssing It All Year Long
Series: Sh*tty Mom Series
Author: Alicia Ybarbo & Mary Ann Zoellner with Erin Clune
Publisher: Abrams Image
Genre: Parenting, Humour, Adult Comedy
Release Date: 5th April 2016
BLURB from Goodreads
Told in the same tongue-in-cheek voice as the original, this sequel is full of funny parenting tips and relatable stories for contemporary moms. Sh*tty Mom for All Seasons explores the occasions throughout the year that test every mother’s patience and inspire self-deprecating humor and that second glass of wine. With chapters organized by season, the book will teach you how to navigate the bumpy roads of motherhood, learn to laugh at the occasional parenting fail, and maybe even appreciate your own mother. Or not. Sample chapters for the sh*tty mom year include:
Fall: “Yes, We All Have to Be Here: The Annual PTO Funsraiser”
Winter: “Mom’s Real New Year’s Resolutions”
Spring: “I’m Running Off with the Gardner: April Fools!”
Summer: “Summer Reading Lists & Other Great Reasons Why You Don’t Home School”
The Emmy Award–winning TODAY show producers and self-proclaimed sh*tty moms, Alicia Ybarbo and Mary Ann Zoellner, together with humorist Erin Clune, bring you the perfect book for mothers who don’t take themselves too seriously.
Fall: “Yes, We All Have to Be Here: The Annual PTO Funsraiser”
Winter: “Mom’s Real New Year’s Resolutions”
Spring: “I’m Running Off with the Gardner: April Fools!”
Summer: “Summer Reading Lists & Other Great Reasons Why You Don’t Home School”
The Emmy Award–winning TODAY show producers and self-proclaimed sh*tty moms, Alicia Ybarbo and Mary Ann Zoellner, together with humorist Erin Clune, bring you the perfect book for mothers who don’t take themselves too seriously.
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Series: Sh*tty Mom Series
Author: Alicia Ybarbo, Mary Ann Zoellner, Laurie Kilmartin, Karen Moline
Publisher: Abrams Image
Genre: Parenting, Humour, Adult Comedy
Release Date: 1st September 2012
BLURB from Goodreads
Sh*tty Mom is the ultimate parenting guide, written by four moms who have seen it all. As hilarious as it is universal, each chapter presents a common parenting scenario with advice on how to get through it in the easiest and most efficient way possible. With chapters such as “How to Sleep Until 9 A.M. Every Weekend” and “When Seeing an Infant Triggers a Mental Illness That Makes You Want to Have Another Baby,” as well as a Sh*tty Mom quiz, this is a must-have, laugh-out-loud funny book for the sh*tty parent in all of us.
Goodreads Link
PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon US
Amazon UK
Series: Sh*tty Mom Series
Author: Alicia Ybarbo & Mary Ann Zoellner with Erin Clune
Publisher: Abrams Image
Genre: Parenting, Humour, Adult Comedy
Release Date: 5th April 2016
BLURB from Goodreads
Told in the same tongue-in-cheek voice as the original, this sequel is full of funny parenting tips and relatable stories for contemporary moms. Sh*tty Mom for All Seasons explores the occasions throughout the year that test every mother’s patience and inspire self-deprecating humor and that second glass of wine. With chapters organized by season, the book will teach you how to navigate the bumpy roads of motherhood, learn to laugh at the occasional parenting fail, and maybe even appreciate your own mother. Or not. Sample chapters for the sh*tty mom year include:
Fall: “Yes, We All Have to Be Here: The Annual PTO Funsraiser”
Winter: “Mom’s Real New Year’s Resolutions”
Spring: “I’m Running Off with the Gardner: April Fools!”
Summer: “Summer Reading Lists & Other Great Reasons Why You Don’t Home School”
The Emmy Award–winning TODAY show producers and self-proclaimed sh*tty moms, Alicia Ybarbo and Mary Ann Zoellner, together with humorist Erin Clune, bring you the perfect book for mothers who don’t take themselves too seriously.
Goodreads Link
INITIAL THOUGHTS
After reading titles such as the "Unmumsy Mum by the Unmumsy Mum" and the "People I Want To Punch In The Throat by Jen Mann" I found that I really enjoyed this genre and found it entertaining. So seeing the title of this one made me eager to read this one too.
So "Initial Thoughts" are that I should really enjoy this book too!
MY REVIEW
I downloaded a free e-arc of this one from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. The cover is a scene on a beach. The beautiful light blue of a summer's day sky, and the yellow sand. There is a deck chair with a "mum" sat in it, with a drink in one hand and a tablet or e-reader seemingly totally oblivious of a young toddler playing with a seagull. So the cover really fits with the title of the book, and it gives a certain opinion of the Sh*tty Mom depicted on the cover.
Would the cover make me pick this book up from a bookstore shelf? I think if I was in a bookstore browsing the humour section I would definitely pick this book up on the strength of the cover to take a closer look.
This book begins with the author talking about your child's first day at "school", or as this is an American book, "kindergarten" though the scenarios are all similar. It describes how moms are all teary eyed leaving their children in the playground, reminiscing about "Where have the years gone?" then these same teary moms secretly thinking, "Yippee! those baby years are over!" The author remembers all those gruesome baby and toddler years, keeping their little treasure safe from illness and every potential threat of danger! So I guess what the author is saying is that Moms should be proud of themselves and be celebrating the ending of those years. . . . However then the author points out that though those days/years have gone that there will be many more new and different challenges to be faced.
The book then covers Spring, or Spring Bank break to be more precise. I mean how do you keep your youngsters occupied? Well apparently the internet has a plentiful supply of ideas about where to go and how to avoid queues etc, but the author goes on to explain that all these brilliant idea's are "dirty fantasies" as there is NO perfect trip, or perfect place to go. In fact the author goes onto admit there is no such thing as a vacation with children.
I totally identify with the whole "kids being sick on a car journey" I personally remember driving to Great Yarmouth (in the UK, but a long drive) we were almost there and I kept checking my daughter in the rear view mirror as she had gone quiet all of a sudden, then Whoooosh! she was sick . . . . and well without going into detail, I needed to pull the car over to clean her, the car interior, including the windscreen (yes she really projected that day!). Lets just say upon arriving at Great Yarmouth the first thing I had to do was to clean out the car and put air fresheners in it! Within my "clean up the car" supplies I also purchased a small bucket that has been rolling around behind the driver's seat ever since!
The book moves on to Summer, where most children are happy for about half an hour before declaring "I'm bored" Then the next scenario is how do we get the children excited about going back to school? New pencils, pens, pencil cases, lunch boxes etc.
This is a witty, sometimes ironic look at parenting - or should that be, being a mother! As let's face it fathers don't usually have it as hard as us mums!
Other sections of the book I thoroughly enjoyed were the "different types of moms that volunteer at school", "thanksgiving", what the acronym BRAT stands for, as well as a listing of the true values and messages of Gift Cards!
I should point out that this is a more American aimed book but having said that some of the scenarios are so similar that the book is still a relevant and fund read for all mums.
So did I enjoy the book? Yes, this book makes you equally smile, groan (as you think of the situations described in the book and the equivalent that has happened to you and your child) and laugh out loud.
Would I recommend this book? In need of cheering up, then this book is ideal. Need to see a lighter side of parenting as life is getting you down, then this will make you smile.
Would I want to read another book by these authors? I think if I saw the originally Sh*tty Moms book I would most likely pick that one up to read.
Would I want to read another book of this type of content/genre?As I said earlier in this review I have already read and also loved the Unmumsy Mum, and I have both read and signed up to the newsletter/blog for People I Want To Punch In The Throat by Jen Mann.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Amusing, light hearted, witty look at what it means to be a mum and the ups and downs of parenting! I loved reading the ironies, funny situations and craziness of another mother facing the trials and tribulations of motherhood. Though this author is not from the UK the book speaks the international language of frazzled mum!!
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