Confessions of a Slacker Mom

Confessions of a Slacker Mom by Muffy Mead-Farro

You should know before reading Muffy Mead-Ferro's short book that she has a nanny for her two children. That small nugget was tucked into the last chapter of this meandering lazy attempt at countering anything and everything in parenting help books. It's difficult to take a writer seriously when they don't put all of their credentials relating to the topic up front. If someone is going to espouse the idea that being a lazy mom is okay, you should note that you can afford to act this way since you are lucky enough to have hired help. Besides, if your children don't turn out perfect, you'll always have someone else to blame.
The idea of the book is that Muffy doesn't want to buy loads of educational toys, put headphones on her abdomen during pregnancy, get warmers for the wet wipes, etc. All the things that many modern (Yuppie) parents are lead to believe are necessary to get their children into the best pre-schools, high schools, and universities. It's a great idea (a lot of this needs to be said), but the author really falls flat when expanding on these ideas. Her rationale for not wanting to do all these things is that her parents didn't and she turned out okay. Fine, but we all know that. Most parents didn't read How-To guides and yet their children still managed to survive and thrive. Mead-Ferro's lack of explication is irritating (as is her literary eye-rolling when talking about other parents) and results in repetitive and obvious "revelations." The book is a wonderful idea but poorly executed and almost completely devoid of any innovative or interesting ideas. The lack of depth leaves only enough material for a light magazine article. A real shame.