I remember hearing People I Want to Punch in the Throat: Competitive Crafters, Drop-Off Despots, and Other Suburban Scourges (#443) being discussed on the media with favorable reviews, so when a chance came up to win a copy on Good Reads, I took it. This series of essays is based on Jen Mann's very successful parenting blog posts, and after reading these often outrageous and hilarious accounts of suburban life (which you just know have to be true!) I can see why Jen Mann has been nominated for a number of web blog awards.
I'm not the right generation to be comfortable with her casual use of swear words, but I sure can get behind her attitude on marriage and parenting. Ms. Mann definitely has her head screwed on straight, and if her kids don't turn out to be admirable adults in their own right, it won't be her fault! Objecting to a school bus without seatbelts for the kids? Believing that a child's assignment should be completed by (gasp!) the child himself?! What's unbelievable is that she and the Hubs (as she calls her husband) seem to be the only ones in the neighborhood with this attitude. I feel for her, I really do.
Though she never once uses the term "helicopter parents", her outrageous tales of the "Mom Wars" in her Kansas City suburb will strike a chord with anyone who has ever tangled with these competitive cliques, or whose child has suffered at their or their offspring's hands. Who knew an organized and determined group of Room Mothers could so relentlessly suck the joy out of Halloween or teacher gift-giving in the name of one-upsmanship?
Just filter out the four-letter words, and sit back and enjoy this book. Jen Mann has a lot of wisdom and common sense to share in her entertaining essays.
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