Motherhood Smotherhood: Fighting Back Against the Lactivists, Mompetitions, Germophobes, and So-Called Experts Who Are Driving Us Crazy

Motherhood Smotherhood is about as much fun to read as the title promises. The lively, conversational tone carries an energy that most parents just dream of (the joys of writing—it can be done in short bursts and still keep the impression of always being “on”). Each chapter focuses on some new topic or rant and infuses a delightfully snarky dose of reality and comfort.

The truth is, it really doesn’t matter what stance you take on most parenting issues. It’s all about the intangibles, the feeling of being loved that makes a difference to the child. The only topic that she takes a militant stance on is that of vaccines, because it affects people outside of the family (although, after my second daughter had a violent reaction to one of her kindergarten shots, and her little arm swelled to about the size of my thigh, I came to understand an anti-vaccine stance).

This is a great read for parents who feel overwhelmed by the chaos of parenthood or maybe just want to know that someone else has been there. I’d rate this even higher, but there’s a lot of unnecessary profanity, and that’s just not my favorite thing.