Just Let Me Lie Down: Necessary Terms for the Half-Insane Working Mom [Hardcover]

In a different format, I might have given this author 5 stars; she can write. However, please note that a "lexicon" for the half-insane working mom (from the back cover copy) means a dictionary. Terms are in alphabetical order followed by little essays in which she tries to be cute. On the plus side, you could read this in small batches of time (say, when your child is napping), but on the minus side, the book just doesn't gel together in any coherent way. But before you rate this review as "unhelpful," please take a look at an example from the book and you'll see what I mean:

"Conflict of interest: It's Sunday: you must take the dog to the park before 9:00 a.m. when he is allowed to be off the leash. Husband has soccer from 9:00 to 10:00; teenager has church confirmation class, also from 9:00 to 10:00. Teenager must be at soccer game one town over at 10:30. Middle child has church school from 10:00 to 11:00."
Add 8 more lines of this, and you have a sample entry. Is it "charming"? "Hilarious"? Well, the back cover says so, but I disagree.

If you look at the gushing reviews from other well-known authors, which is what got me hooked in the first place, you will see that someone mentions it would make a good gift. I should have read between the lines: this means it's gimicky. You can't dive into this book: it's just too shallow. Good for quick wading, but that's about it.

In the time since I became a mother seven years ago I have both worked and stayed home. I worked for the first year and a half of motherhood. After adding a second child to our family and trying a job sharing plan that didn't end up working out as planned which coincided with a decision to relocate across the country and sell our house (which meant I wouldn't be able to stay at that job anyway) I started staying home and I have been home now for a number of years. I know that the clock is starting to wind down to my going back to work outside of the home, but I also know in my heart that right now I am not ready to do that. This book works well for both working outside of the home moms and stay at home moms. I hate the fact that stay at home moms are viewed as not working, as if every day is a day off, but that is a whole different topic.

Kristin van Ogtrop is the editor at Real Simple Magazine and has been working since before her first child was born. Her writing is funny and easy to read. I got through the book in just a few days mostly while I was nursing my son or winding down before bed. Each chapter is arranged with a letter and alphabetical listings of terms for moms. Some examples are "accounting error" when you accidentally have one more child than you can handle, "boredom fantasy" when you remember back to when you were much younger and actually had enough free time to be bored, "ignore the tray" where you must act like a waiter and not look at all that is on your plate otherwise it will all tip- just keep you head up and keep going and you will be fine, and "that-sounds-like-fun-I'll-try it!" where you end up thinking you can do more than you can and end up in a situation that may be uncomfortable or just a pain like having your house renovated while you are still living in it.

Van Ogtrop is really funny, it is nice to read about other mothers who don't feel like they have it all together all the time. I really enjoyed the alphabetical nature of the book, it made it feel organized. Earlier this year I read a book called Mother Daze and this reminded me of that one. It was also written by a working mother who had three children and they both did a good job with relating to the reader and using humor. For all mothers and maybe even all women, there is such a balancing act going on in our lives with how much time to give to our jobs, our families and ourselves and it is so hard to achieve what feels just right for all of those areas and really, sometimes if we just managed to get a bit more sleep it would go smoother but it feels like there isn't enough time to get that rest since so much needs to be done and we just keep going around on this treadmill.

I requested this book for review from Hatchette Books

I don't know how I feel about this book. It seems to be very personal to the author herself, and not all of the definitions felt familiar to me. On the other hand, I've only been at this working mom thing for six months now. It's definitely another one in the genre of upper-middle-class moms, like so many other books. The War on Moms: On Life in a Family-Unfriendly Nation made the point that most of these books miss the point of what it's like for families that don't have supportive husbands, nannies, or understanding workplaces. Nevertheless, I too am one of the privileged few who was able to stay home for maternity leave, has a safe and clean place to pump and a workplace that will give me a flexible schedule. And you know, I feel pretty lucky. This book on the other hand sometimes made me feel a little sad. The author seems so harried, and most of the definitions are about hurried, rushed, stressful situations. I think the book really focuses on some of the negative sides to parenting, and tries to make them funny. Sometimes it succeeds. However, reading anecdote after anecdote, I eventually started to feel a little down. Or maybe I felt lucky - after all, I'm not feeling "half-insane" yet. Then again, I only have one kid. Perhaps this book is incentive to keep it that way.

› Go to Amazon.com to see all 43 reviews  4.1 out of 5 stars