Mama Tried: Dispatches from the Seamy Underbelly of Modern Parenting by Emily Flake

You know the feeling of dread you get when an acquaintance, or stranger, asks you about a certain topic? You know the topic well. You may even love discussing this topic with your close friends. But you dread having to answer anyone else's queries on the matter because as soon as you enter that conversation you take on the role of a politician holding a press conference. You don't want to offend or be judged on a personal level for the phrasing of your response. You choose each word of your answer more carefully than you crafted your wedding registry because you are so worried about how you may be interpreted. In Mama Tried, Emily Flake doesn't worry about such things as she delves into the controversial topic of modern parenting.

In the first paragraph of the introduction, Flake tells the reader that "Never before in human history has it been so possible to convince yourself you're doing everything horribly, horribly wrong." She is, of course, referring to the plethora of conflicting research to be found on every minuscule aspect of parenting and child-rearing, as well as the so-called "Mommy Wars" that plague every modern parent. None of this is news. If you are a modern parent, you have these things thrown in your face daily in the form of articles trying, almost too desperately at times, to be politically correct. What is a breath of fresh air, however, is Flake's candid, no-filter, nothing is off limits style of writing. Through her accounts of her every parenting experience from deciding when to have children to parenting her toddler, she says exactly what we all want to say but don't for fear of judgement. Her quick whit and blunt humor make her stories flow more like a blog post than your typical work of nonfiction. Upon cracking the cover and flipping through the pages, one would find her work more reminiscent of a children's book than anything - the text broken into short, succinct stories divided by pages of captioned illustrations and comic bits - making it the perfect read for the modern parent who is more concerned with being able to sneak away long enough to use the restroom alone than with finding the time to read a novel.

While the humor and blunt nature of Flake's writing does give Mama Tried a relatable and enjoyable lightheartedness, it also makes the more taboo topics she weaves into her story easier to read about. When she takes her reader through her miscarriage and her period of "the baby blues," we don't feel as though we are being drug through the muck and down into a deep hole of emotion, but we also don't feel cheated of the experience either. Her account is simply matter-of-fact, this is how I felt right, wrong, or indifferent. It commands a certain level of understanding, or at the very least respect, before reading along as she pokes fun at herself and mothers as a whole in the next sentence.

This book is certainly structured in a way as to be enjoyed in the short bursts of time parenting allows us, but I must admit I couldn't put it down and would consider it a great read for any parent.