Review: Waiting for Birdy

Title: Waiting for Birdy: A Year of Frantic Tedium, Neurotic Angst, and the Wild Magic of Growing a Family
Author: Catherine Newman
Category: Nonfiction
Rating: 4.5/5
Summary: Memoir of a mom who is pregnant with her second child.

Review: Hi-LAR-ious! I don't often laugh out loud when reading, but this book had me chuckling and giggling at every turn.

I knew this was going to be my kind of book when I got to this part on page 11:

"I once sat up late with a friend, enjoying a shot or two of Jagermeister and imagining a special line of Hallmark cards called 'Womanly Thoughts' or, maybe, 'Gynecological Moments.' These would be designed around moody little watercolors of women with their feet in stirrups, women skulking around ovulation kits at the supermarket, and greetings like 'Sorry to hear about your ovarian cyst. / If I had one, I'd be really pissed.'"

The author tells it like it is, and no topic is taboo. While on the whole it's a very funny account of her life raising a toddler while being pregnant, the author also addresses more serious issues. For example, she talks about losing her patience and then temper with her son Ben and how she feels horrible afterward.

My favorite take-away from the book is that it reminds you to try to live in the moment even when that moment seems unbearable. The author's mantra is "This, Now." I find myself reciting that mantra when I'm bouncing Abby on the exercise ball for the third time after trying to put her down for a nap unsuccessfully two times already. Because one day, she's not going to need me to help her fall asleep, and I'm sure I'm going to miss these days looking back.

The only part I didn't love about this book was frequent assurances from the author that she wasn't kidding before she shared a particularly funny or outrageous tidbit. When someone is constantly saying that they're not kidding, it makes me wonder if all the other things they're saying but not prefacing with "I'm not kidding" are true or not.

So I could have done without that quirk, but I still loved, loved, LOVED this book!