Meredith O'Brien, popular blogger and parenting journalist, shares her funny perspective on suburban motherhood in "A Suburban Mom: Notes from the Asylum".
Deadwood, OR (PRWeb) January 20, 2007 -- Today's mothers are relentlessly sent mixed messages: Be attractive and sexy, but not too sexy. Take care of your babies by making sure they're breastfed and monitored at every moment, only don't breastfeed outside of the house or you might upset people. Stay home with the children when they're young, but don't forget to be a strong feminist role model by seeking out paid employment that gets you out of the house.Alongside the barrage of mixed messages, suburban parents are hounded by sometimes irrational paranoia: Make sure your home is childproofed, professionally, if possible, in order to keep dangers at bay. Only feed your kids organic foods and don't let them watch TV lest your offspring become sedentary, obese and stupid. And parents should not, under any circumstances, argue in front of their children, because, according to "experts," they could emotionally damage their offspring for life.
Author Meredith O'Brien has had enough of the messages, the paranoia and the advice-givers.
In "A Suburban Mom: Notes from the Asylum" (Wyatt-MacKenzie, Jan. 22, 2007) O'Brien gives the out of control demands and expectations placed on suburban moms and dads a reality check.
This collection of 76 essays is organized in five categories: Motherhood, etc.; Pregnancy, Birth & Other Bloody Things; Growing Pains; On the Home Front, and Random Ramblings. O'Brien writes about subjects as varied as questioning why fashionistas try to convince pregnant women that maternity thong underwear is a good investment; how difficult it is to maintain a sex life while three kids pound outside of their parents' locked bedroom door; how to look cool while driving a mini-van (a clue: you can't) and what to do when your child is discovered eating trash and other unspeakable substances.
A former reporter for The Boston Herald, O'Brien was a co-author of "The Buying of the President" (Avon, 1996). An adjunct faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Journalism Program, she has written more than a dozen magazine articles about the media.
In the world of parenting journalism, O'Brien is a contributing writer to the Boston area publication, Parents and Kids (http://www.parentsandkids.net). She also writes about the portrayal of working moms in popular culture and media in weekly "Working Moms in Pop Culture & Politics" columns on Mommy Track'd (http://www.mommytrackd.com/survivalguide.php?id=10) and (http://www.mommytrackd.com/hottopics_detail.php?id=20). Her work has appeared in a number of parenting periodicals and web sites including: Chicago Parent, DallasChild, Baby Years Magazine, FamilyMan.com, DotMoms, BabyZone.com and ClubMom.
O'Brien lives in a suburb of Boston with her three children - ages 8, 8 and 5 - and her husband Scott.
"A Suburban Mom: Notes from the Asylum" Release date: January 22, 2006, paperback, $16.00, 304 pages, ISBN: 978-1-932279-51-1, Parenting, Humor, Essays, Motherhood.
Advanced praise for A Suburban Mom:
"In A Suburban Mom: Notes from the Asylum, Meredith O'Brien has given every mom something she desperately needs amid today's world of 'perfect parents' - a wonderful dose of reality, along with lots of laughs!" -- Betsy Hart, nationally syndicated columnist and author of "It Takes a Parent: How the Culture of Pushover Parenting is Hurting Our Kids and What to Do About It".
"Meredith O'Brien has written one of the most refreshingly honest, hilarious, poignant, and searingly true parenting books that I have read of late. From hiding from her twin toddlers in order to down a couple uninterrupted bites of breakfast bagel to the vein throbbing on her forehead as other parents start brag about their children's amazing accomplishments: I kept thinking been there, did that. Plus, everyone around me wanted to know what I was laughing about as I read! Do not even try to be a sane suburban Mom without reading these Notes from the Asylum!" -- Stacy DeBroff, founder of www.MomCentral.com, author of The Mom Book: 4,378 Tips for Moms, and "Today Show" parenting expert.
"Meredith O'Brien's 'Asylum' is a sweet, funny and fearless place." -- Heidi Raykeil, author of Confessions of a Naughty Mommy, and columnist and editor at literarymama.com.
"Written with warmth, humor and wisdom, A Suburban Mom is clever, inspiring and will make you proud to be a mother. Meredith O'Brien dares to trust her instincts and does so hysterically. A great gift for every mom who needs some comic relief." -- Paula Schmitt, award-winning author of Living in a Locker Room and editor, Mom Writer's Literary Magazine
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