If you're sick of high-strung parents bragging that their gifted children request sautéed brussel sprouts and conjugate German verbs for sport, Melanie Shankle's Sparkly Green Earrings will be like manna from heaven.
Shankle, creator of the Big Mama blog, paints a very different picture of motherhood than you'll get from the photos posted to Facebook by doting parents. Her daughter, Caroline, can be obnoxious, much like every other child on this planet--and, rather than insisting her beloved daughter is "misunderstood," Shankle freely admits the opposite, creating room for hilarious stories.
Reading this memoir could be the least alone you'll feel as a mother. Finally, there's someone else out there whose kid yells "poop!" at the playground at the top of her lungs. Shankle takes motherhood seriously, but she doesn't take herself too seriously. Her message is clear: if you love and care for your children, everything is going to be fine.
If you've ever wondered when parenting became a competitive sport--and one where we feel we are constantly failing, at that--or why we feel like we need to shield our kids from every disappointment and enroll them in 10 extracurricular activities, you'll marvel at how Shankle manages to keep you laughing while contemplating those questions. You may even find yourself nodding along and hooting "Amen, sister!--until the last couple of pages, where she delivers a whammy that truly underscores the pain, joy and indescribable power of motherhood. --Natalie Papailiou, author of blog MILF: Mother I'd Like to Friend