Mommy Knows Worst: Highlights from the Golden Age of Bad Parenting Advice

asked by faithfulone on October 31, 2006 12:10 PM

From the author of The Gallery of Regrettable Food comes a horrifying-yet-hysterical book dedicated to the expert parenting advice from previous generations. Each glossy page includes vintage print ads and photos accompanied by James Lilek's mean comments. But then, what other response is possible, when faced with cough syrup advertisement with a happy child exclaiming, "A cough syrup good enough to eat with ice cream"!

General categories include "Clothing and Accessories" (including a pattern to make a headband that binds protruding ears to babies' heads), "Bowels" (featuring an ad with the text, "If he spanks me again, I'm going to run away from home"), and "The Good Old Days", which offers several detailed options for creating a home delivery center. In every chapter, Lilek's comments are the equivalent of cracks from your most sarcastic friend.

For any new parent who's tired of modern advice books, or expecting parents in need of a touch of humor amidst the stress of pregnancy, look no further. Every page has a laugh, and every page will remind the reader that sooner or later, almost all parenting advice will end up having the same worth as what's included here. Jill Lightner

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Reviews

This book is funny because of the writers comments mostly, although there are a few times where you will be wondering how our parents or grandparents survived. A lot of the time, I found myself "standing up" for the old-fashioned advice because honestly, a lot of it made sense when you think about the era. For example, they still teach us that newspaper can help with delivering a baby if there are not better materials available.

It is worth a read if you have an hour to kill, but I probably would not purchase it again since reading it once is enough.

reviewed by wendi on November 17, 2006 4:31 AM

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I absolutely loved James Lileks' two previous books and found them achingly funny, but like several other reviewers, I found "Mommy Knows Worst" to be tinged with sadness at times. Yes, it was very funny, but on the other hand I ended up feeling so sorry for mothers that actually followed this kind of advice (like my mother) and kids who were subjected to it (like me) that it tempered my enjoyment somewhat.

I can remember looking at my mother's baby care book in the early '60s, and the illustrations on how to prepare formula -- sterilize the entire house while you're at it, why don't you? -- were so daunting that I'm amazed anyone actually wanted to have children. Wait, maybe they didn't. Perhaps a chapter on reliable birth control, or lack thereof, would have been a funny addition to MKW. At any rate, I'm still glad I bought the book but will re-read Lileks' "The Gallery of Regrettable Food" when I want a belly laugh (pun intended).

reviewed by runaway on November 20, 2006 8:19 PM

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Parents with a sense of humor remaining about their profession will appreciate Mommy Knows Worst: Highlights from the Golden Age of Bad Parenting Advice, which gathers past parenting neuroses from the 1940s and 50s. From 'delicious' baby laxatives to boiling baby's milk, MOMMY KNOWS WORST is filled with hilarious moments and fine vintage illustrations from the times.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

reviewed by wellness on November 22, 2006 4:30 PM

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I thought this latest book by James Llukes would be sidesplittingly funny, but instead it was an insightful book on how far we've come in the last century about parenting. There are some bizarre moments, such as the newspaper filled home birthing room and some rather odd advice on parenting, and in all its a good book.

reviewed by vicky123 on November 29, 2006 9:23 AM

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add a new book!