Reviewed by Emma Challinor
Is it just me or am I going slightly mad?
As a mother of two young children, my initial reaction to this pocket-sized book was ‘great, that’s exactly what I need, a book to tell me how to stay sane’. But, hang on a minute... ‘staying sane’- doesn’t the title imply that I was sane to begin with? I’m not sure that this was ever the case, but one thing’s for sure, the arrival of children certainly heralds the disappearance of any remaining shreds of sanity!
Now then, ‘99 ways to stop yourself going mad’ – ‘Isn’t that rather a lot?’ a childless person might be thinking at this point. However, as any mother knows, that’s got to be the bare minimum! Helpfully subdivided into chapters such as ‘Descent into Paranoia’ and ‘Total Maternal Dementia’, which correspond to the stages you will go through, this book sounds like just the ticket, while you wait to arrive at ‘Discovering that there is Life AD (after delivery)!
So, let’s start with tip No. 1, which roughly translates as making sure your husband gives you his full attention for five whole minutes when he gets home at night before cooing over his new baby. How ridiculous! Most new mothers would be shoving the baby at him the second he comes through the front door so that she could gain some peace and quiet for five minutes! However the second tip which is to make your husband send the thank you notes out for all the baby gifts you have received is a great idea – if you can trust him, that is!
Some of the tips, such as No. 5 are downright strange (wearing a pashmina over your head at all times to avoid a bad hair-day?!) Some are actually quite helpful – buying rubber ice cube trays (No. 12), and others made me laugh out loud because they are just so true (No. 6 Murphy’s law for mums – if you’ve finally got ready to go out with baby all dressed for outside, you will smell a dirty nappy!)
While others are amusing to read and might be useful if you are a new mother; for an experienced one, they are of no practical help at all. However that does not seem to matter. The point is the humour and the ‘I thought I was the only one who did that!’ reaction it gets from you.
In fact I’ve just realised that I’m already putting into practice tip No. 46 which is the CARO or Car Office, whereby you make use of the time when an infant has nodded off in the car to make phone calls, write lists, oooh and write a book review! In fact, the author even admits to having written most of this book that way!
Billed as an antidote to those huge parenting manuals that you can never find the time to read, this is one book there’s definitely room in your life (and your bag) for!
* Emma is mum to Harvey, aged three, and Amber, seven.
Freelance journalist Kathy Miller is a mum to twins, now aged seven and a former PR lady for all sorts of impressive places. PR huh? Sounds interesting.
Staying Sane is published by Portico Books and costs £6.99. Click here to order a copy from Amazon.
Great review Emma. Ever thought of writing a book yourself??!!
Posted by: Helen | August 07, 2007 at 01:13 PM