Confessions of a Scary Mommy – A Book Review

Recently I came upon the opportunity to review Jill Smokler’s new book: “Confessions of a Scary Mommy-An Honest and Irreverent Look at Motherhood: The Good, The Bad, and the Scary”.  I took my paperback pre-copy everywhere I went for over a week; it even went with us to Catalina Island.

Before I begin, I want to confess that I was not a reader of ScaryMommy.com and in all actuality, I had never even logged onto her site. I didn’t know what a ScaryMommy was, what Jill’s point of view was or what her whole angle on parenting was. The only thing I knew was that she was popular. Call me an opportunist (do it, it’s fine) but I took the opportunity to offer her a good review (if the book deserved it) and she gave me the opportunity to review her book. I was able to read the book through an unbiased readers eye and not through an oogling fans eye. I feel this was monumentally beneficial.

The very first line of the Forward states: “I am not a writer”. Which, immediately had me intrigued and in fact, sets the tone for the rest of the 167 pages that followed. “Confessions of a Scary Mommy” is not a novel. It is not a book in which you sit down and read from cover to cover but rather a book that you pick up while you have a few spare moments. I liked that. A lot. It was more entertaining than a magazine, but not so involved as a thrilling novel. I found that convenient and relaxing especially in my crazy, busy, pregnant life.

Do you know what a Scary Mommy is? I bet you do. Because it is you, it is me, for the love-it is all of us that have children. If you can’t admit that you are a crappy, half-assed mom at times then you are living in denial. Badly. It was so refreshing to read that another mother could relate to my completely honest feelings. It was comforting to read that I was not alone. It was a Eureka! moment to read that someone else thought being a mom just sucked sometimes and that feeling…was OK. We all as mothers try so hard to act like we’re happy, that we’re together, that we like our children and want to spend every waking moment with them. This book and Scary Mommy’s perspective makes it OK to admit to each other and to ourselves that it’s ok to act like you’re not happy, that we’re not together, that we don’t like our children and that we kinda just want to run away from them. So lets stop pretending and lets get real.

“Confessions of a Scary Mommy” is chock full of hilarious titles such as:  “I hate other people’s kids (not yours, of course)”. How could you not love a book with a title such as this? Besides the awesome title, the chapter is in fact completely relatable and how I’ve always felt. My kids are clean and healthy. Yours? Are sick, dirty nightmares (not yours of course, but you know…hers). This chapter is candid and funny and tells a story about how we’d like to keep our children safe and healthy and trapped inside a bubble, far away from all the dirty kids out there. Other funny chapter titles include: “Yes, You’ll Shit on the Delivery Table”, “I Like You Best…Today” and “The Twelve-Foot-Deep-Death Trap (aka the Pool)” among others.

After reading the book, I can say with all sincerity that I am now a Scary Mommy oogling fan. This book and Jill Smokler’s ability to tell an honest, entertaining and funny story about the thrills and spills of Motherhood has made me a believer in all things Scary.
I enjoyed reading this book and I know you will too. “Confessions Of A Scary Mommy-An Honest and Irreverent Look At Motherhood-The Good, The Bad, and the Scary” is available for pre-order now. I highly suggest you order yourself up a copy.

Thank you Jill, from one scary mommy to another, for the opportunity to review your book. It was truly, my pleasure. xo