Thursday, September 04, 2008

Book review: Sleep is for the Weak

I haven't had a Blackberry since I left my old job in February, but I spent last week reading mommybloggers on the train.

How's that? Well there's this thing called a book. It's made out of paper and it's kind of like a blog in that you can read it and relate to it. But while there are plenty of funny anecdotes about potty training and the cute things kids say, there are no distracting typos, comments or linkydinks dragging you off into that black hole timesuck of cyberspace.

Sleep Is for the Weak is--dare I say--an essay collection on motherhood. It just happens to be an essay collection published by BlogHer and penned by A-list mommybloggers like Finslippy, Mom-101 and Three Kid Circus. And not since The The Girlfriends' Guide to Pregnancy have I read such a funny, honest, shot-from-the-childbirthing-hips truths of motherhood, hemorrhoids and all.

I smiled at Rita Arens' account of pulling a turd out of a constipated kid's ass because I've so been there. I laughed at Tracy Gaughren-Perez's "Pity the Parents," a cautionary tale about how dining out with kids is a recipe for disaster. And I very nearly busted a gut giggling over Eden Marriott Kennedy's "This is Motherhood." (I'm linking to the original because it is that funny!)

Online, my favorite blog posts are humorous or humiliating. Preferably both. I'm not big into aw, ain't my kid the cutest? and isn't being a mom just the best? stories and I carry that prejudice offline. So while I wasn't all that keen on Mariam Kamin's recollection of her "Most Handsomest" son's preparations for picture day, I just about pissed my pants when Eden Marriott Kennedy's little boy blithely confessed that "sometimes I like to hurt dogs."

Lucky for me Sleep is for the Weak is more piss and vinegar than sap and saccharine. Get it for your friend who's still thinks blogging has something to do with those AOL chatrooms and doesn't understand why you'd want to expose your kids to internet predators.


This review was made possible by the friendly folks at Parent Bloggers Network, who probably know all of the contributors personally.