Customer Reviews:
Understand your child without reading an ADHD reference.......2001-11-05
After 8 years of trying to understand my daughter, I found her in this book. I knew she thought differently, but all the professionals were stumped as to how to help her. I finally found this book and it was as if I saw my daughter for the first time. Not only did it identify her learning style perfectly, I was able to see how that learning style formed her personality and how she reacted, positively and negatively, to different situations. As a parent, that understanding has allowed me to be more proactive with her education and more patient in my parenting. I recommend this book to anyone, especially those parents or caregiving professionals who know there's more to their child than what is being seen.
Tremendous help in understanding my children.......2000-03-19
Until I read this book I just couldn't understand how to relate to my young son. Though I can't say that I agree with everything in this book, it was a huge help in learning how my son was figuring out his world. He learns through his eyes! My older son and I learn through our ears. I thought everyone did until I read this book. It is just as valid to learn through your eyes or your fingers or your movements as it is through your ears. Every parent and teacher should read this book.
Opened my eyes to my child's mind!.......1998-10-20
I picked up this book from an LLL meeting's private library, just for something to read for the month. I never imagined that it was going to change the way I looked at my child! In learning my child's thought pattern (and mine and my husband's as well) I not only discovered how he learns, but reasons for the ways he behaves. When reading the description of a typical person with my child's thought pattern, it was as though the author was describing my child exactly! I now understand such behaviors in my child as never having an appetite, not enjoying coloring, although he can very nicely, being able to memorize things he hears with seemingly no effort at all, talking and asking questions from the moment he wakes up untill he is asleep, and being timid about defending himself physically even when necessary. This book also enlightened me to the fact that my thought pattern and my son's will fit perfectly while I endevor to school him at home, as I enjoy talking and enlightening people, and he learns easiest through hearing. Never before has a book influenced my life in such strong and beneficial way. I have recommended this book to every parent I know, and strongly to those that have chosen as I have to educate their children at home. It is true that every child is smart in their own way and it is important to understand this in order to help each child learn to lead a productive life.
Must read for all educators and parents!.......1997-08-26
A "typing" scheme on how we learn (geared towards children). People understand things in differing ways not because of the intelligience but rather because of the process of how their minds work. This book is full of practical ideas to connect with children
Product Description
Every year thousands of unmarried women debate whether to have a child.
This book gives them the tools to make and responsibly execute that decision.
Using meticulous research, expert commentary and the personal stories of many real-life
Choice Moms, this book offers illuminating and thought-provoking examples of both the joys and struggles of Choice Motherhood. Choosing Single Motherhood explores the concerns of
real women who are making this decision ... how children are affected by fatherless homes ...
how to answer a childs daddy questions ... pros and cons of using a known donor or an open-identity donor ... how children of pioneering Choice Mothers feel about the lifestyle ... and more.
The goal is to offer an honest and realistic picture of what the lifestyle is and is not, so that future Choice Kids can be raised by mothers who have consciously prepared for the challenge.
Customer Reviews:
Great book for someone planning to be a single mother........2007-01-16
This book answered a lot of my questions and gave me a lot to think about. I enjoyed all the different opinions and situations. It was also a great read. It would be wise for all single women who want children to read this book.
Choosing Single Motherhood: The Thinking Woman's Guide.......2007-01-09
This book, in my opinion, is a good reference for every woman considering single motherhood. Mikki Morrissette, makes it a point to bring examples from real life when writing about issues such as becoming pregnant by a donor sperm or adopting a child.
I found the book helpful in not only as a guide for all options of single motherhood but also as a thought tool to the many issues that single motherhood's entails.
Informative book for single women considering DI or adoption.......2006-07-23
Single motherhood is a profoundly life altering decision. This book helps women considering single motherhood by choice to take a realistic look at their options and the possible complications and difficulties. The interviews with "grown - up" children is a bonus and fairly reflects the perceptions of the majority of the children raised by single moms by choice. Single moms by choice or by chance will also want to check out The Complete Single Mother, recently published in a completely revised third edition.
Finally...Expert Advice on the Tough Realities of Choice Motherhood.......2006-03-09
Speaking as someone who has already accomplished choice motherhood, the best part of this book is the expert advice addressing what the tough issues are and ways to solve them.
Raising a boy as a single mother isn't easy. There are obvious and (as I learned from the book) not so obvious reasons why children need both same- and opposite-sex role models. I really had never considered that rough-housing could be a teaching mechanism rather than just a testosterone-laden way of bonding! Mikki has included research from many different child experts and provides a concise synopsis of ways to lessen the effects of the tough realities that we can't avoid.
This book is a must-read and has a place of honor on my reference shelf.
A review from Australia, February 2006.......2006-02-28
A fantastic read for anyone who is considering choice motherhood or has chosen choice motherhood and is interested in hearing about others experience. As someone who has already chosen the Single Motherhood route using DI I have found this a great resource.
The experience of mothers and children was of most interest to me and I think the book has been the best on the subject that I have read over the last five years. It includes information on mourning the dream, deciding to make the choice, conception choices (open identity, anonymous, known donor, adoption etc), budgetting, support systems, community reaction to name a few. The research for the book has been extensive and includes interviews with women who made this choice many years ago and now have teenage or young adult childen, along with interviews with the children brought up by Choice Mothers.
In short a very valuable book whether you are yet to make the choice or if you are already down the track and looking for a resource to add to your knowledge.
Amazon.com
Is there any topic more controversial than the sexual education of our children? Parents worry about telling too much or not enough, schools are restricted in what they're allowed to discuss, and kids are filled with a combination of surprising misinformation and depressing detail on disease without ever having been taught about the possible benefits and enjoyment of feeling comfortable with their bodies. Deborah Roffman, a longtime teacher of sexual education for both children and adults, has assembled a thorough book that attempts to address moral and physical issues for every age. The Thinking Parent's Guide to Talking Sense About Sex is decidedly not for those whose sex speech begins and ends with "just say no." Roffman's take on sexual education is that it is a lifelong exploration that should encompass changing cultural values and an individual's personally evolving ethics as well as the practical facts of proper health care. Put plainly in one section's title, "sexuality is about people, not body parts." Including a discussion of gender roles and history, and appropriate levels of information for everyone from toddlers to teens, Roffman attempts to cover all the bases with a mix of theory, historical perspective, personal stories from her own classrooms and kids, and practice questions and situations that parents can eventually expect from their children. Breaking down this complicated subject, she identifies five core needs that all questions fall under: affirmation, information giving, values clarification, limit setting, and anticipatory guidance. This last category relates to parents' ultimate goal of making themselves "dispensable," secure in the knowledge that their children have been raised with all the information needed to make the right decisions for themselves--decisions that will result in a sexual health that blends their emotions, minds, and bodies with ultimate success. --Jill Lightner
Book Description
A new paradigm for talking honestly about sex and sexuality with our children.
With a rare directness and clarity about sex and reproduction, sexual values, and cultural influences on sexuality, Deborah Roffman challenges and teaches readers how to develop a blueprint for opening the lines of communication with children of all ages. Sex and Sensibility introduces the five core parenting skills that parents need to confidently interpret and comfortably respond to virtually any question a child might pose or any situation that arises. Powerfully instructive and thought provoking, it should be required reading for parents; it will inspire honest talk about sex and sexuality, helping all of us be better parents for the effort.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Resource.......2007-06-12
This is an excellent resource for parents with young children or anyone considering having children. This book will help you communicate more effectively with them concerning sex, sexuality and gender issues.
It is informative, funny and easy to understand. She gives a lot of examples of what she is writing about so that you have something to go on in discussing the topic with your own child or children.
Good ideas and stories but too wandering and disorganized.......2007-02-12
I have to admit I was a little disappointed with this book. The idea is revolutionary and necessary in modern society: a generation of parents who genuinely talk to their children about sex and maintain an open and reasonable dialogue throughout their child's life.
Roffman does a good job of arguing for why we need this. What she does not do well, in my opinion, is get to the point: just how are we to instill these dialogues into our relationships with our children? After pages of being told how important it is, I was frustrated not to find how she recommends going about it. So I skipped around. However, due to the poor organization of her book, I had no idea where to skip to. I left it back at the library I got it from with only a vague idea of how she recommended I speak to my child.
Don't get me wrong: her stories are good and there a few I feel glad knowing. But she simply does not get to the point soon enough. The path of her narrative is wandering and her direction at times unclear. I simply could not sit through it long enough to give her a chance to get. to. the. point.
After some disappointment and some searching, I found a book that *does* get to the point:
-Everything you NEVER wanted your kids to know about SEX (but were afraid they'd ask)-
by Justin Richardson and Mark Schuster
While Roffman has the advantage of many first-hand discussions with parents children, Richardson and Schuster have the advantage of not only that but also enlightening statistical, psychological, and sociological research. Not to mention a much more straight-forward writing style.
I applaud Roffman's efforts on a difficult topic. But this simply is not the book to read. I wish she would organize her personal stories so I could find the ones on topics I'm interested in and assimilate them. But unfortunately, I do not have time to dig through all of them to find the ones I feel are relevant.
Read it and share it with your offspring before they go off to college!.......2006-12-28
I don't know what are the rates for teen pregnancy in the US, but I KNOW that unwanted pregnancy is a reality for young adults. Every year one or two of my college students becomes pregnant. I can only recall three times in over ten years when the student was either married or in a committed relationship. If your offspring is planning to go off and live on his/her own, read this book so you can talk about sexuality before they leave your house. The book is somewhat verbose and some sections could be shortened, but I gave it 5 stars because what Roffman has to say, and how she says it, it's very important.
Every parent should read this book.......2006-11-02
Just what parents need to know - the big picture, not just biology and warnings. Very thoughtful.
Important if you're a parent.......2002-02-28
I saw Deborah Roffman speak before I read this book. When she told us that her students (she teaches at a local private school) call her "the sex lady," I wasn't surprised. When she explained some of today's kids' (we're talking kids, not even teens) attitudes about sex, sexuality, and sexual activity, I was very surprised.
I've always considered myself enlightened and pretty progressive, but when it comes to what our kids are thinking and doing, I felt like a Puritan. According to Ms. Roffman, the roles that we as a society thrust on our kids put them under an incredible amount of pressure about themselves, their sexuality, and their values.
This book is written just the way Ms. Roffman speaks -- frankly, straightforwardly, and plainly, with no holds barred. If you're the parent of a pre-teen or teen, or know a pre-teen or teen, you should put this book near the top of your must-read list.
Book Description
The bestselling author of Raising a Thinking Child shows parents how to help their children solve more than 100 common problems
Best-selling author Dr. Myrna Shure has helped thousands of parents and children with her awardwinning “I Can Problem Solve” (ICPS) program, based on her own original research in developmental psychology. Thinking Parent,Thinking Child will help you guide your children in the use of ICPS to come up with their own solutions to more than 100 of the most common problems, including being a sore loser, acting aggressively, having trouble with friendships or teachers, or experiencing a major loss.
“If you’re looking for a parenting book that doesn’t rehash the obvious, this is it.” —New York Post
Download Description
You've tried everything you can think of, but nothing you do seems to have any effect on your child's chronic procrastinating. The school called again to complain that your daughter is still bullying the other kids in her class, and you don't know how to make her stop without becoming a bully yourself. Your son explodes in anger if he loses at anything--sports or even fun family games. And your kids constantly argue with each other and with you. If you're looking for a different way to handle problems like these, this book is for you. Written by internationally acclaimed parenting author Dr. Myrna Shure, Thinking Parent, Thinking Child arms you with powerful techniques for dealing with these and dozens of other issues confronting today's parents.
Customer Reviews:
A better way to raise resonsible kids.......2004-11-05
I admired Dr. Shure's previous book, Raising Thinking Child, and found this one a great follow-up that helps me apply her ideas to specific situations that come up all the time. My boys learn to come up with their own solutions, which they are more likely to follow since it was their own idea. This book helps me prepare my kids for life as well as get through the day with more sanity!
Average customer rating:
- An important topic with no literature
- Feminist Psychoanalysis Doesn't Quite Cut It
|
Emotional Rescue: The Theory and Practice of a Feminist Father (Thinking Gender)
Isaac D. Balbus
Manufacturer: Routledge
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Historical
| Genre Fiction
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Philosophy
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Gender Studies
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Marriage & Family
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Culture
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Children
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Feminist Theory
| Women's Studies
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Psychoanalysis
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
Gender
| By Topic
| Psychology & Counseling
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Parenting
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Issues
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0415919177 |
Book Description
Weaving personal narrative with a synthesis of feminist mothering theory and psychoanalytic theories of narcissism, Isaac D. Balbus describes his effort to share in the care of his daughter during her first four years. Emotional Rescue is a poignant reflection on the connections between the problems in his child-rearing practice and the development of his child-rearing theory.
Customer Reviews:
An important topic with no literature.......2005-01-04
I got this book out of desperation, since it is seemingly the ONLY BOOK AVAILABLE on the combined subjects of FEMINISM and FATHERHOOD. As the previous reviewer indicated, this book is way too absorbed in psychoanalytic/Freudian theory for my tastes.
Feminist Psychoanalysis Doesn't Quite Cut It.......1999-05-18
This is a fascinating book, as much for how it's written as for what it says. Balbus interweaves his own experiences of being a Father with his analysis of Feminist Psychoanalytic Theory (a la Chodorow) and political Feminism. However, his analysis is not stirringly original. It very effectively analyzes the object-relations theories involved, gives an interesting analysis of narcicism theory, and then weaves in his daily experiences with his child. In the end, it is all a bit too psychologically convoluted (note the author is a political scientist?) for my tastes, though Freudian fans might like it. One is left to wonder, too, if Balbus had spent more time focusing on Parenting (and good parenting) rather than capital-F Fatherhood, whether he might have been more successful in his book and his childrearing.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent
- excellent... a must read for any parent
|
Thinking About the Baby: Gender and Transitions into Parenthood (Women in the Political Economy)
Susan Walzer
Manufacturer: Temple University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Gender Studies
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Marriage & Family
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Culture
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Children
| Sociology
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Women's Studies
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Fatherhood
| Family Relationships
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
Motherhood
| Family Relationships
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Issues
| Teens
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1566396301 |
Book Description
Many new mothers and fathers are surprised at how they change as individuals and as couples after a baby is born. Susan Walzer's interviews explore the tendency for men and women to experience their transitions into parenthood in different ways-a pattern that has been linked to marital stress.
How do new mothers and fathers think about babies, and what is the influence of parental consciousness in reproducing motherhood and fatherhood as different experiences? The reports of new parents in this book illustrate the power of gendered cultural imagery in how women and men think about their roles and negotiate their parenting arrangements.
New parents talk about what it means to them to be a "good" mother or father and how this plays out in their working arrangements and their everyday interactions over child care. The author carefully unravels the effects of social norms, personal relationships, and social institutions in channeling parents toward gender-differentiated approaches to parenting.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent.......1998-12-29
This book would be useful for people working with parents
excellent... a must read for any parent.......1998-11-06
This is an interesting, thoughtful and thorough book any parent should read. It adds perspective to parenting and dimension to understanding the psychology of children.
Customer Reviews:
New revised updated version of this book is better!.......2001-05-17
As the author, I'm letting you know that the resources in this older edition of Playing Smart are out of date after a full decade in print. Buy the REVISED edition (subtitle: THE FAMILY GUIDE etc.) and you won't be disappointed.
The author shares info about this book.......2001-01-31
PLAYING SMART is coming out in a new enlarged updated edition in April 2001. Stay tuned.
Packed with creative fun.......1999-07-02
Susan K. Perry's writing is always a delight. PLAYING SMART is filled with fun ideas that will entertain children AND adults. Each chapter offers dozens of suggestions to open children's minds to love learning, improve their powers of observation and innovative thinking, and to be respectful of the world and all its beauty. Many many resources listed for games, supplies, and further information. Children will learn they need never say they are bored again.
Excellent ways to play with kids while you wait and wait ..........1998-11-06
Here's where to turn for creative responses to "How much longer?" -- that classic question asked by children of all ages -- when sitting in traffic, waiting in the doctor's office, or standing in line at the supermarket. You and your kids (ages 4-14) will enjoy the offbeat, simple games in Playing Smart. The fun ideas in this book will turn, "Aren't we there yet?!" into "Are we there already?!"
Amazon.com
The parent battle cry of this book's title says it all: What Did I Just Say!?! offers solace and suggestions for hair-pulling parents who are not getting cooperation, respect, or acceptable behavior from their young children. Drawing upon years of clinical experience, psychiatrist Denis Donovan and child therapist Deborah McIntyre explore miscommunication as the reason why good kids continue to behave in ways opposite to what parents ask. As the authors explain, "Parents have a tendency to say things very different from what they really mean. And kids have logical antennas, tuning in to what adults say literally and logically." This problem leads to a two-step solution. First, parents must learn to say what they mean, and then they can understand how the inner world of their child's experience and thinking is different from that of adults.
Parents will chuckle and cringe with recognition as Donovan and McIntrye examine ineffective parent perennials such as "How many times do I have to tell you to behave?" They use these statements of frustration as lesson plans for teaching parents how they fail to convey what they really want--and how they can clearly state what they mean. More important, the authors invite parents to listen with a child's ear to gain insight about why the answer, "I give up, how many times do you have to tell me to behave?" is a logical rather than disrespectful answer.
The authors spotlight a variety of behavioral strategies including how to capture a child's attention and understand their "attentional style," avoid tuning out and serial forgetting, set boundaries and cope with sadness and anger. Several chapters detail a communication technique for focused one-to-one conversations called "The Five Minutes". Occasionally, Donovan and McIntrye offer general descriptions rather than hands-on suggestions. But overall, they convince readers that parents who learn to say what they mean and understand children on their own terms, will not have to issue multiple commands to put on pajamas tonight. --Barbara Mackoff
Book Description
An invaluable book that does for parents and their young children what You Just Don't Understand did for men and womenDid you know that when you say "How many times have I told you not to?" your toddler thinks you are actually changing the subject rather than reiterating a question? Based on years of clinical experience and original child development research, What Did I Just Say!?! shows how conventional communication styles actually prevent parents from saying what they mean and cause children to hear something entirely different than what was intended. The authors demonstrate how a simple understanding of the logic of language and of childhood thinking can dramatically improve parent-child communication. Among the subjects covered are understanding the complex experiential world of young children; putting structure, rules, and boundaries into children's lives while still fostering individuality; encouraging healthy emotional responsiveness and interpersonal sensitivity while decreasing anger and aggression; focusing a child's attention; and foiling behaviors such as tuning out and forgetting.By helping parents understand the very different linguistic and experiential world of children, What Did I Just Say!?! offers a foundation for parent-child communication that will last a lifetime.
Customer Reviews:
GET IT and get spares for your friends, LOVE IT!.......2003-06-19
This book is amazing. If you have problems with your boys (OK kids) you must get this. I thought I was the most emotionally available and "tuned-in" parent. After reading the first few chapters, I used the skills I leared in this book. My older one had been whining in the mornings about not wanting to go to school. I gently commanded him to tell me WHY (I didn't ASK, I COMMANDED him to tell me- lovingly)in the ways I learned in the book. He told me that he was embarassed because he couldn't open his tupperware at snacktime. I had the same morning scene EVERY MORNING until that day, and that was the end of it! I use this book EVERY DAY now. It is an easy read, and you will get results after just a few chapters. I had no parenting issues that I wanted to fix, but my sister had an appt. with the author without knowing he had a book (a Dr. referral, he's in Tampa, FL). I looked it up on Amazon and it was interesting. I got it and it's LOVE! GET IT, but be ready to take responsibility for your kids' problems and take initiative to change the way you speak to them. If you can, it'll be easy, SO EASY. If you are looking for an external reason for your kids' problems you can easily find that elsewhere.
Number 1 book on Parenting.......2002-08-01
Dr. Spock and all the others have nothing on this team. For the first time after reading and implementing parenting methods I have finally found one that truly works. The changes in our family are remarkable. In a world full of self help books on parenting, it is very confusing as to what is right, wrong or simply ineffective. This book however is not only effective but will teach parents common sense things we just could not see on our own. It is simple and even obvious now. Wonderful parenting guide for any parent whether working through a crisis or just wanting to make sure you and your child start out in the right direction. Its never to late to make a change and its not only effective, the results are quick and rewarding. Our quaility of family life has surpassed my wildest dreams!! Frued has been surpassed. We recommend this book to all of our friends, and to anyone reading this review. You will be amazed and grateful. Thanks Denis and Deborah!
What did I just say?.......2002-02-28
This book has changed my life, it has given the spoken language new clarity from the eyes of the young. I now have control of how words are spoken, interperted and understood, before I always assumed my child understood what I meant. My children have responded very well to this easy to follow and understand guide. We have also been fortunate enough to be in therapy with Dr. Donovan for the past 1 1/2, as we live in St Petersburg, Fl. Read the book, absorb the book, implement the book and change your world and your childs.
Change The Way You Communicate With Your Child.......2000-04-19
"What Did I Just Say! " by Denis Donovan, M.D. and Deborah McIntyre, M.A., R.N. is a book on how to communicate effectively with your children. This is a must in this day of computer wiz kids. It gives you phrases and practical statements to say to your children to help them process what you really want them to do. Children don't always hear what we meant. This book will change the way you communicate and interact with your children. Pick this one up today and be on your way to a better, more insightful relationship with your kids.
Not your typical parenting advice.......1999-09-29
If you want to understand how your child's mind really works, if you want to get past the blindfolds imposed by such labels as Attention Deficit Disorder, Hyperactivity, and Learning Disabled, if you want to be able to make rules and structure part of a meaningful relationship with your child and not just another source of arguments, read this book.
Average customer rating:
- What Sedaris, Lebowitz and Dave Eggers should aspire to.
- We need more from Margaret Smith..
- Very Funny, Sometimes Dark, Laugh out Loud
- Not funny at all, unfortunately
- so funny I read it twice
|
What Was I Thinking?: How Being a Stand Up Comic Did Nothing to Prepare Me to Become a Single Mother
Margaret Smith
Manufacturer: The Crossroad Publishing Company, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Women
| Specific Groups
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Comic
| General
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Satire, General
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Parenting & Families
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Motherhood
| Family Relationships
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
Child Development
| Babies & Toddlers
| Parenting
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Parenting
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
Single Parents
| Parenting
| Parenting & Families
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
As It Should Be
ASIN: 0824522850 |
Book Description
Margaret Smith, blithely disregarding the conventional wisdom that female comics must labor within proscribed borders, has gone her own way. What the New York Times wrote about Smith's award-winning stand-up routine is also true of Smith's new book. In this hilarious romp, one of America's senior comedic writers describes what she thought it would be like--and what it was really like-- to become a single Mother.
Customer Reviews:
What Sedaris, Lebowitz and Dave Eggers should aspire to........2005-12-21
Margaret Smith is a one-of-a-kind comedian. Her off-kilter worldview and dry-as-dust delivery is fresh and real in a world of grinning comedy clones. My favorite Margaret Smith-ism goes something like "I saw my mother today. (long pause) Its okay, she didn't see me." I'm not always able to catch her on tv like I used to, so I was delighted to hear she'd written a book.
The cover says the book's about becoming a mother, but you won't find overly sweet sentimentality here. Smith makes looking on the dark side into an art form. Her story is dark and horrific, and she pulls no punches when writing about, violence, abuse, racism, tomatoes, and her calling plan. Only Margaret Smith could make comedy of this. But she pulls it off astonishingly well - deftly balancing tragedy and humor. Ultimately, it's not a story about adopting a baby, it's a heartfelt tale of spiritual redemption. I know that doesn't sound very funny, but it really is.
We need more from Margaret Smith.........2005-11-19
I had overheard some people talking about this book and how much they liked it, so I decided to see if Margaret Smith was as good a writer as she is a comedian. She is. The book is poignantly funny and sad at the same time. Margaret Smith is a great comedian and I admire her for the way she takes sadness and turns it inside out to find the humor in it.
Very Funny, Sometimes Dark, Laugh out Loud.......2005-11-05
I heard the Author on an NPR Radio Show talking about this book. The interview was funny and it motivated me to buy the book. It was an easy an enjoyable read. Laughed many times out loud. It felt alot like a David Sedaris style of writing. The humor sometimes dark. I especially liked her childhood stories. If you grew up with Mary Poppins and Ward Cleaver as parents you might not find this humorous, but I didn't, and I did find this book very funny.
Lauren
Lauren
Not funny at all, unfortunately.......2005-11-03
I bought this book thinking it would be filled with zippy one-liners and good-humored stories about raising a happy kid on your own while keeping on top of a successful career. The title made me expect I'd be entertained. I had hoped for something in the style of Erma Bombeck as a Single Mom. This book is not that at all.
Instead, it's the story of the author's tragic childhood in a family that was dysfunctional and brutal. The author spends pages and pages describing her relationship with her mother, beatings by her stepfather/uncle and years of therapy. It's heartbreaking stuff. Margaret Smith also weaves in chapters about her failed artificial insemination and her success at adopting her beloved baby boy. None if it was at all humorous.
Margaret Smith writes well and her story is honest. It's just not one I felt like reading after I put my daughter to bed after working all day. If anyone knows of any books about the funny side of single parenting, please post the titles. In the mean time, I'll just reread Ariel's Gore Hip Mama Guide.
so funny I read it twice.......2005-10-26
I don't know if it's because I feel like a single mom or if just anyone with children or wanting to have children would appreciate it but this book was hilarious. It reminded me of reading Anne Lemott only more dry and painful. At times I was embarrassed that I was laughing and grateful that no one was in the room so I wouldn't have to explain what was so funny, because part of me was sure it was wrong to be laughing. Any way this was a great read!
Books:
- Hush Little Baby: Board Book
- International Business with Online Learning Center access card
- Introduction to Health Care Delivery: A Primer for Pharmacists
- Investing Success: How to Conquer 30 Costly Mistakes & Multiply Your Wealth (Investing Success)
- It Will Never Happen to Me: Growing Up With Addiction As Youngsters, Adolescents, Adults
- Jokes My Father Never Taught Me: Life, Love, and Loss with Richard Pryor
- Learning Through Play: Curriculum and Activities for the Inclusive Classroom
- Let's Nosh (World Snacks)
- Life: 100 Events That Shook Our World : A History in Pictures from the Last 100 Years
- Life-Span Human Development
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Your First Year as a Nurse: Making the Transition from Total Novice to Successful Professional
- Queen Elizabeth's Wardrobe Unlock'd: The inventories of the Wardrobe of Robes prepared in July 1600,
- Budgeting á la Carte: Essential Tools for Harried Business Managers
- Film Form: Essays in Film Theory
- Guide to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act: What Business Needs to Know Now That it is Implemented
- Siddhartha
- Kaplan AP U.S. History 2007 Edition
- Cost Accounting/1Disk: Concepts and Applications for Managerial Decision Making
- Future Positive : International Co-Operation in the 21st Century
- The Natural History of Domesticated Mammals
The Open Mind: Exploring the 6 Patterns of Intelligence
Learning Unlimited: Using Homework to Engage Your Child's Natural Style of Intelligence
The SMART Parenting Revolution: A Powerful New Approach to Unleashing Your Child's Potential
I Will Not Die an Unlived Life: Reclaiming Purpose and Passion
The Art of the Possible: A Compassionate Approach to Understanding the Way People Think, Learn and Communicate
