I Don't Know How She Does It

Categories: Staff Picks , Parenting & Families , Nonfiction , Fiction

Right now my toddler has a cold and is pretty miserable.  Which means I'm pretty miserable.  She doesn't care to blow her nose, instead preferring her sleeve.  She also doesn't care to take her medicine, instead preferring to spit it back out (usually on me).  Getting a two-year-old out of the house on a good day takes forever.  When she doesn't feel well, and insists on carting her teddy, two blankets, Elmo, Tigger, and several dolls into the car with her---well, you might as well give it up.

It's on days like this that I'm reminded of Kate Reddy, heroine of Allison Pearson's ode to working moms, I Don't  Know How She Does It:  The Life of Kate Reddy, Working Mother.

This title created a splash when it came out in 2002, with many reviewers favorably referring to it as a "Bridget Jones" for mommies.  Kate works at a London brokerage firm and has two small children.  She loves her architect husband, adores her kids, and feels incredibly guilty for not spending enough time with either.  By turns humorous and poignant, I Don't Know How She Does It is a wonderfully vivid, heartbreakingly honest account of one mother's struggle to have it all.

Other novels on a similar theme include Jayne Buxton's Lessons in Duck Hunting and Laura Zigman's Piece of Work.

If you enjoy non-fiction, try The Milk Memos, Comeback Moms, and Mommy Wars.