Clever Reading: Confessions of a Slacker Mom

As a busy mom always short on time, what I loved most about Confessions of a Slacker Mom by Muffy Mead-Ferro was the sense of accomplishment that I felt after reading it in one night! It is a quick and easy read. I got the sense that the author wasn’t trying to write yet another parenting advice book, but instead wrote about her experiences growing up in the 70’s and her mother’s parenting style versus the popular, trendy parenting methods of today. It was a great tribute to her mother and the important life lessons she took away from growing up on a ranch in Wyoming and being forced to be an independent, hardworking, appreciative child.

I enjoyed reading several different chapters where she takes on many of today’s modern parenting challenges. First, her take on toys (Toys Aren’t Us) humorously describes needing to buy stock in battery companies, the constant chore of picking up the 60+ pieces to the toy or sorting through toys to put them back together, which I know from experience has taken up way too much of my time! I whole-heartedly agree with the fact that today’s kids have so much to choose from that almost nothing is truly special. She also reflects on how much more time was spent outside using our imaginations and playing with sticks, rocks and spending hours building forts out of card board boxes instead of buying expensive “educational” toys that the kids look at once and forget about!

I also enjoyed her takes on scrap booking (“every moment memorable but potentially trivial too!”), formal education (writing a recommendation for a 2 year old’s application to preschool), safety (learning the hard way instead of completely safety-proofing the house) and allowing for the natural consequences of a child’s behavior. Bottom line: she believes in building a child’s self esteem by encouraging them to accomplish a goal that wasn’t easy to achieve, learning a new skill or finishing a task that takes time and effort, and teaching children to want to do well for themselves, not just to gain praise.

By just saying “no” to the pressure of some of today’s parenting philosophies and giving children everything, she calls herself a “slacker mom.” By resisting these temptations, she believes in letting kids learn for themselves, and believing that it is okay for your child to have less and not have to be involved in every kind of activity or sport. She also believes that mothers need to have lives of their own, which as I’ve just hit the 40 year mark, I am a big subscriber to these days. I believe that being a slacker mom just might make me a better mom, wife and friend!

The book is humorous and easy to relate to and I enjoyed being reminded of what is truly important as we raise our children the best way we can in this fast-paced, overwhelming world we live in! Her most important message: she believes we are all generally good parents and we need to trust our inner instincts as the good moms and dads that we are.

NOTE: I’ve always been a lover of books all my life and I try to still get in a book every so often even when time seems to not want to permit it! We read to the kids every night and for those of you who read to your kids and yet still don’t have time to read for yourself, remember that it sets a great example for your kids to see you take a moment, pick up a book and read. Practice what we preach, right? It will do everyone good!

Buy Confessions of a Slacker Mom on Amazon.