Things I Can't Say

Tips and Tales from an Introverted Mom

The Mother of All Meltdowns

I was provided with a free review copy of The Mother of All Meltdowns to facilitate this honest book review.

I think my early days of motherhood would have been so much easier if I’d been blogging then. Or if Facebook had been something used by moms instead of just college students.

Or maybe I just joined the wrong moms’ groups or Gymboree Class.

Because no one around me shared any mom moment that wasn’t perfect. So I thought I was a huge failure because I occasionally had a meltdown.

That’s probably why I so appreciate the book The Mother of All Meltdowns. (That’s an non-affiliate link to the Kindle version, that you can get for $4.99 right now)

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What I love best about The Mother of All Meltdowns is that it lets moms know that it’s perfectly normal to have a full-on freak out sometimes. Whether it was caused by some crazy thing our kids did or by that one last item that was piled on top of an already impossible to-do list, it’s okay to let loose with your own mom meltdown.

The moms in this book share their meltdowns over everything from finding out they were pregnant and being freaked by an epidural needle to kids who complain at Disney World, poop messes and more.

I was laughing at the one over a haircut because my boys opened their own hair salon and cut each others’ hair– not just once but twice within DAYS of each other. Though I might only find that funny because mine happened several years ago.

I also appreciated the meltdown over LEGO since I once attempted to reassemble my kindergartener’s Harry Potter 2,000 piece LEGO castle because his brothers had destroyed it while he was at school and OMG, all those pieces, I couldn’t do it and I knew he’d freak out and WHY had I let the littles anywhere near it and WHY couldn’t I put it together when my  5 year old managed to? Total meltdown. The Mother of All Meltdowns showed me I wasn’t the only one who had freaked out over LEGO.

You’ll also find funny bonuses like a Mommy Meltdown Scale with rating categories that I’m pretty sure I need to print out and post in my house and make my family memorize so they know what it means when I yell out “category 4!”

The advice for coping with a mommy meltdown is pretty spot on, too. Though when it says to drink and then “doesn’t have to be wine or liquor. In fact, it’s best to avoid those before 10:00a.m.” I do sort of wonder if maybe that mom needs to learn to joys of the mimosa, particularly the grapefruit mimosa, which is so heavenly. But since there are usually school pick ups that need to happen, I’ll give the benefit of the doubt and figure that doesn’t count weekends.

The Mother of All Meltdowns would be a great read for a new mom, a mom who is going through a rough time and needs a laugh, and even that snotty mom in your moms’ group who acts like she always has her act together- maybe it would make her ‘fess up to her own meltdowns!

Special shout out to friends AnnMarie of Tidbits from the Queen of Chaos, Chris of The Mom Café, and Danielle from Martinis and Minivans for having pieces in The Mother of All Meltdowns. Congrats, ladies!

Comments

  1. Thank you so much for the wonderful review and must admit I am so very happy to be a part of this, because you are right I so wished I would have blogged and written sooner like when I first got pregnant for the first time or right after  had my first, because now I know that it isn’t just me, but back then I really had no clue.  One of the things I love about this book is that moms at every stage can relate (I believe) on some level.  Thanks again and so glad you enjoyed it!! 🙂

  2. I love the idea of giving the book to one of the snobby moms that acts like she’s got it all together! Thanks for the great review! We’re in this together, warts and all!

  4. What an awesome review! It’s nice to know that other moms lose it sometimes too…it’s okay not to be perfect. I have to say I was nervous writing my story and letting the world know my worst moments, but once I read the other stories, I felt better about putting it on paper. We are all in this together. 

  6. AW!!!!! Thanks SO much for the shout out Shell!!!! You just made my day!!! Smiling ear to ear now…

    Thanks SO much for your AWESOME review!!! Such great women, such great stories…. XO

  7. Of course I didn’t mean weekends! That meltdown coping advice was mine. I’m more of a Bloody Mary fan than mimosas, but whatever works 🙂 Thanks for the review!

  9. “You’ll also find funny bonuses like a Mommy Meltdown Scale with rating categories that I’m pretty sure I need to print out and post in my house and make my family memorize so they know what it means when I yell out “category 4!””

    Crack me up!!!!  Thanks for the awesome review!!

    • I really should do that. And then Hubs will know to hand me wine and the kids will know to retreat to their rooms.

  10. Thanks so much, Shell for the awesome review! Of course I had meltdown after meltdown trying to get my post up. Fitting, huh? So blessed to have become friends with you and love having your support. 🙂
    It doesn’t surprise me at all that we shared the same meltdown. 🙂

    • So very happy to call you a friend. xo

      It cracked me up to read yours, knowing my boys had done the same thing.

  12. Oh I have that but I haven’t had a chance to read it yet.  I have had both situations with my kids, as my oldest two I wasn’t on social media or blogging when they were really little, but Ryder was born after I had been blogging for a while.  It really is the connections and knowing that other moms and women are going through things that makes me love blogging so much.  

  15. I love that you start out by saying that nobody talks about the “not so perfect” parenting moments.  That really hits the nail on the head.  And clearly, after reading the book, we all show that even at our worst…we will one day look back on it and laugh!  (hopefully)

    Thanks for the awesome review of our stories.  

  16. Seriously is there ANY kid who hasn’t cut hair?? My oldest did it and promptly added it to the spaghetti sauce that was cooking on the stove. No joke. Thanks so much for the awesome review 🙂 

  17. I wish you and I had been in the same Gymboree class.  We could have melted down together over our imperfect lives.  I loved this book too for all of the same reasons.