I'm asked to read lots of books for review, and although I'd love to read every single one, there will never be enough time in my world to get through even half of them. However when this pitch came through, something drew me to it. Not sure what exactly led me to the light, maybe the title, maybe the cover (way to bring back the "Baby on Board" type sign, I actually wish I could get the "Hell is Other Parents" one, I'd proudly display it on my car), or maybe it was the fact that the book is composed of essays instead of a long drawn out biography. Regardless of what drew me to what I consider a mommy masterpiece, I love Deborah Copaken Kogan and think that we should be friends...
With swim school in session, I have exactly 45 minutes a day to myself. I sit by the side of the pool and pretend to watch my boys, "Mom, did you see that? Watch this? Mom, look what I can do." I look up, "Uh huh, awesome." Not even knowing what just happened because I'm too busy reading, escaping the chaos, and trying to look like I don't want to talk to the other mothers sitting around me. This is my time damn it! Wait, maybe I shouldn't admit that. I hope the swim school moms don't read this blog. And I do watch sometimes, I mean after all, my kids can swim, they're just perfecting at this point. I will say I never miss the dives through the hoop at the end... My point is, I will never finish a book unless we have swim school, so this is my time, and during my time this past week I was thoroughly engulfed in Kogan's book.
Kogan's new book, Hell is Other Parents, is comprised of various essays covering significant events in her life. Her style of writing allows you to read with ease and laugh the whole way through. One of my favorite moments is when Deborah is at a park with her daughter, her daughter is climbing a large rock. A "concerned" stranger warns her many times that what her daughter is doing is "unsafe." She basically tells the stranger that she's got it under control, but the stranger won't leave it alone. I won't ruin what happens, read it for yourself and learn about this bad ass little toddler that proves the stranger wrong.
While reading this book, I felt as though Deborah was telling some of my life stories. As a mom of two premature boys, one with cerebral palsy and one with speech issues, I get other people throwing in their two cents all over the place. Just last week a woman (at swim school of course) asked me where my son's accent was from and told me that it was odd I didn't have one. Ummmm, duh, that's because he doesn't have an accent, he has a speech problem, and don't worry about it lady, he's in speech lessons, I've got it under control. See, Hell is Other Parents.
Read Deborah's book. Worth even my precious swim school time!
Check out a trailer for the book HERE!
