Bad Mommy by Willow Yamauchi book review

As long as there have been people on this earth there has been pressure placed on women to be a "Good Mommy". Once we have children, that's exactly what we strive so hard to be! Women put a lot of pressure on themselves, and each other for that matter, to be the "best" mommy. We compete with each other, some mommies more than others, by comparing our children to those of the other mommies. We enroll our children in activity after activity so we can say we've raised the most "well rounded" children. We place excess pressure on our kids in school so we can say we've raised the "smartest" kids. Little did we know, that whatever we do, all we really are is a "Bad Mommy". In this book, "Bad Mommy" author Willow Yamauchi teaches us that we are really just stuck between a rock and a hard place when it comes to raising our kids!

With chapters such as "Bad Mommy Gains Weight" and "Bad Dental Care Mommy", Willow goes through each aspect of birthing and raising children, from conception all the way to your child moving out on their own. She teaches us that there are many, many ways of parenting and that no one way is really the right one. There are pros and cons of each decision that you will make and inevitably, someone will think you're a "Bad Mommy" because of it! Someone, somewhere out there will criticize us for every decision that we make! Willow teaches us to take these criticisms with a grain of salt and while making your own educated decisions about all aspects of your child's life, you should feel good about them. We need to stop relying on what society says is right and just do what makes us feel good about it. Willow writes about these subjects with humor and definitely doesn't beat around the bush! She really tells it like it is and that is refreshing to me.

At the end of each chapter, we are introduced to a couple of admitted "Bad Mommies" who tell of their experiences based on that chapter's category. These stories helped me to feel like I was not alone in the decisions that I've been making as a parent. These are real stories, from real women and it's nice to know that I'm not the only one out there making mistakes!

Here is an extremely funny except from the book and just one example of Willow's straightforwardness:


"...Positioning your baby to sleep is likewise ripe grounds for showing your failure as a parent. Sleep positioning rules have changed no less than three times in the last ten years. First, babies were to sleep on their tummies so that vomit would spill out their darling little mouths and they would not choke to death. Then, no, that was terrible! Babies had to be propped on their sides so that vomit could drain out of their darling mouths with no choking. Of course, a year or so later, this changed again and all good mommies put their babies to sleep on their backs so that the vomit can drain out of their darling little mouths and they will not choke to death somehow (like babies actually stay in the position you put them to sleep in anyway). Babies not sleeping on their backs will likely get SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) and die, the direct result of poor sleep positioning by their bad mommy. Likely by the time this book is published, babies will need to sleep suspended upside down from the left ankle
only, which will allow for optimal vomit drainage."



It's my opinion that all moms should read this book. We all need to hear that we are all going to be a bad mommy, so just relax and enjoy your children. They will turn out just fine. Now that I've read this amazing book, I am proud to be a "Bad Mommy".

Thank you to author Willow Yamauchi for allowing me to read and review her book. Your book has truly changed my outlook on parenting for the better, and I appreciate that!


Until next time,

Hugs,