slacker mom/wife

I've read a book recently called "confessions of a slacker mom" that really changed my attitude about parenting, and I discovered recently that the author had written a second book called "confessions of a slacker wife." I think if I lived in the same town as Muffy, the author, (yes, that's her first name) I would want to be her friend. Her books have been a blessing to me because it has been so good to see in writing that someone (other than The Reenactor) shares the same attitudes, beliefs, and ideas as I have about parenting, and now that I've found the second book, my role as a wife, mother, hostess, home organizer, and to quote my father, "general lacky," has been quite nicely described in writing by someone who I sense is a lot like me.

I want my oldest niece to read this book...at least the first chapter...because she deals with the issue of being called "Mrs." and changing her last name (Muffy actually hypenates it); I want my friends to read it because it deals with how much pressure we put on ourselves to be perfect...a.k.a. that Stewart lady on t.v...and we are constantly frustrated that we don't have the time, the ability, the money, or the dozens of people working for us to make perfection happen. And I want everyone I know to read it because like her first book (slacker mom) it really gets to the issue of why do we let marketing dictate how we expect our lives to be? Why do we spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on things that are sold in garage sales two years later for a fraction of their original price. Why do we feel that a 4,000-square-foot house is appropriate for a family of four when two generations ago a family of six was comfortably accommodated in a house 1/3 that size. Why are we always pushing ourselves for more, more, more?

If you have children, or if you have friends who are new parents, this is a great gift to give them (unless they are the type of folks who she is writing about...two SUVs, a McMansion in the 'burbs, etc.). If you don't have children, or your children are grown, you should read it anyway because it really addresses so many social issues in a way I've not seen written before.

I'm only halfway through the slacker wife book, but I'm already saying "YES!" about every other paragraph that I read in it.