So I’ve read two other books by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. One was written prior to her starting a family — it’s all stories about boys and drunken nights and celebrity encounters. It’s cute, but nothing special (I reviewed it at one point this year on CBR). Then I read another of her books, written after she came to terms with her drinking problem, which struck in earnest while she struggled with three kids, two of whom were preemie twins. That one was pretty good –frankly written and funny. Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay falls between the two chronologically — post-family, pre-drinking problem, only one kiddo — but was probably the least enjoyable of the three.
Most of Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay consists of Wilder-Taylor discussing what other moms do, and some of her comments are kind of mean. I get that there are kooky moms out there who name their kids ridiculous names and hand grind their own organic baby food and sometimes they seem silly or over-the-top to those of us just struggling to get our two year olds to eat hot dogs. But there’s a difference between gently poking fun, and downright bashing those other moms. I think Wilder-Taylor crosses that line quite a few times, and it comes across as mean, not funny.
I can’t remember if it was in Bossypants or Yes, Please, but in one of those fantastic memoirs (I think it was Poehler’s), she writes something along the lines of “Every woman’s motto should be: That’s fine for her, not for me”. I think Wilder-Taylor would benefit from that advice.
It was Poehler.