The Motherload: When Your Life's on Spin Cycle and You Just Can't Get the Lid up!

by Caryl Kristensen, Marilyn Kentz

Two of America's favorite mommies bring their edgy, hysterically funny and right-on-target look at life in the sac. Cul-de-sac, that is. Caryl Kristensen and Marilyn Kentz, two suburbanites who developed a stand-up routine that led to an ABC sitcom and later a talk show, will have readers saying to themselves, "It feels so good to know I'm not alone," and perhaps, "Thank God that wasn't my kid." Meeting first as neighbors in a Petaluma cul-de-sac,"The Mommies" juggled babies, Little League, Halloween, teenagers and the secret, unwritten rules of suburban behavior. From their early dreams of glamorous bohemianism to the dirty reality of dirty diapers and carpools, motherhood may have brought its share of sacrifice, but it also sparked real friendships and strong support from the rest of the mothers out there. Now everybody's favorite neighbors, the Mommies tell it like you're over for morning coffee. Caryl and Marilyn Living with teenagers is like watching Jeopardy  every night; after a while you start thinking, "Maybe I am stupid." Kids in There are two kinds of those who grow up and become lawyers and those who need them. I have both kinds. Body Don't you think cellulite looks a little better tan? The epidural was better than the sex that got me there. The rule is this -- if you're wearing something that's hurting you, chances are it's hurting someone else. The Motherload, like the best of Erma Bombeck, is a savvy, savagely amusing book that speaks to the tired parent in all of us.

256 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 1998

Reviews

[Pat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really cute book. I'd have given it a higher rating except that there were small details that were simply WRONG and they bothered me throughout. Not many of them but, boy, I'd have loved to have been the editor of this book. Overall, though, there were some really cute anecdotes about motherhood that I could really relate to (never mind the fact that my own were in the dim corners of my memory). Now I can watch them happen as my grandchildren grow up.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An Erma Bombek-like book written by two comedians in the 90's. I could definitely relate to some of their stories.