It’s Not JUST for Parents

A friend lent me this book because she thought I’d appreciate the humor in it. For the most part, she was right! This is one in a series of books written by Ms. Mellor about challenges of parenting. She has a couple of boys, and writes to fellow parents about ways they can maybe keep their children from a) annoying the hell out of the rest of the world and b) not turning into total jerks when they are adults.

I thought the premise was going to be about how to travel with children, but that’s only maybe a third of the book at most. So I think maybe it should have just been a collection of essays about raising children, marketed as a sort of advice book. I’m having trouble reviewing it not because it’s bad or anything, it’s just sort of all over the place. The tone is even, but the topics are kind of hard to follow. A collection of essays would have been easier for me to take in.

That said, the humor is entertaining but not over the top, and the suggestions don’t seem absurdly offensive (but not being a mother I wouldn’t know how close to the bone she’s really cutting). If you’re a mom or dad and come across it in the bookstore, I say read it, and if it speaks to you, I can see it being a funny book to share with friends.