Online - April 07, 2005

Parental Controls

"From Here to Maternity," by Beth Teitell

The arsenal of parenting has but a few foolproof strategies. There are carrots. (Finish those Cheerios and Daddy will sing Don Giovanni as Elmo!) And there are sticks. (Finish those Cheerios or Disneyland will close forever!) And then there’s the most potent weapon of all: humor.

Live without it, and every little juice spill becomes its own Chernobyl. Keep it handy, and daily annoyances are constant entertainment — and lessons in the absurd. Which is where Beth Teitell’s new book, From Here to Maternity: the Education of a Rookie Mom, comes in.

Teitell, a young working mother, takes no prisoners in her tackling of modern mommying — everything from stroller envy and the moral quandary of exchanging baby gifts for Kate Spade bags (for herself) to the social pressure to know all the right lullaby lyrics. (She settles on The Brady Bunch theme.) In all of it, she illuminates the gray area between being human and being the perfect mom — and reminds us all to laugh.

Which, for parents, is itself a carrot.

Available online at amazon.com or your local bookstore.