Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

This book is a disappointing, disheartening, and saddening look at the entitlement, gross misunderstanding, and utter lack of empathy present in our society today. And the sad part is that this author is older than I am! The premise of this book, which is that all women deserve to have the same "me" time as new mothers is horrifyingly and mind-blowingly shallow, egocentric, and as far from reality from what truly happens in the life of a new mother and family. In fact, in an interview for this book, the author indicates that a mother needing to leave the office on time to pick up her child has the same validity and merit as another woman whose "best friend just got ghosted by her OkCupid date and needs a margarita." Here are some other low points of her interview: "After 10 years of working in a job... I couldn't help but feel envious when parents on staff left the office at 6pm to tend to their children, while it was assumed co-workers without kids would stay behind to pick up the slack." "A meternity leave -- which is, to me, a sabbatical-like break that allows women to shift their focus to the part of their lives that doesn't revolve around their jobs." "For women who follow a 'traditional' path, this pause often comes in your late 20s or early 30s when a wedding, pregnancy, and babies means that your life takes center stage. But for those who end up on the 'other' path, that socially mandated time and space for self-reflection may never come." "It seems that parenthood was the only path that provides a modicum of flexibility." "And as I watched my friends take their real maternity leaves, I saw that spending three months detached from their desks made them more sure of themselves." "I may not have been changing diapers, but I grappled with self doubt." These quotes, along with the book, are clear indicators that the author has absolutely zero clue what it means to have a child and have maternity leave. It's as if she truly believes that having a baby and the ensuing six weeks off results in a mother being able to pause, reflect about her life, think about priorities, engage in personal and meaningful introspection, cure themselves of self doubt, realize the inner advocate within themselves, and then discover a newfound power to be strong and independent. THIS IS SO FAR REMOVED FROM REALITY. During the six weeks after birth, most time is spent caring for the stitches and healing of a mutilated vagina, hobbling to and from the bathroom, swollen and painful breasts, wandering through a fog of sleep deprivation, questioning the purpose of life, feeling horrible about creeping feelings of regret about having a child in the first place, and the slow sinking realization that life as you know it is over. For other mothers, postpartum depression kicks in which can then lead to dark thoughts and suicidal ideations. Declaring that maternity leave is a benefit that allows for downtime and introspection is irresponsibly shortsighted and dehumanizing the experience of parenthood, which in and of itself is the ultimate sacrifice of one's personal life. And though the end of this book comes with a realization that this fictitious character finds herself and that it was never about maternity leave to begin with, it is done at the expense and characterization of this very real, difficult struggle and process for a working mother. To make light of this, or use it as a creative mechanism to generate book sales is an abomination to the hardships and complete change in life for a new mother.