Whew, after wrapping Handmade Holidays earlier this week and working like a slave for weeks now on the costumes for this weekend, I’m on the verge of a craft hangover. So, I’m going to switch gears to my techie and mothering sides to bring you today’s Friday Find.
I love to read. Sadly, with four children swirling around nearly non-stop, that’s a difficult venture. I have to admit, I’ve had this book for a while. There are two major reasons it’s taken me so long to write this review. The first is, I have four children and I can barely sneak through a paragraph, much less an entire page without interruption. Unless I’m sitting behind the locked bathroom door, then the full page is an actual possibility.
The second reason it took me so long to finish this book and write the review is that Kathy Buckworth is just so darn convincing as she insists that every mother should have a smartphone. So, about mid-way through the book, after the previously mentioned phone debacles, I upgraded to my very own smartphone. Of course, if you’ve been reading this blog very long, you’d guess I didn’t get the Blackberry. But despite the differences in brands, The Blackberry Diaries: Adventures in Modern Motherhood shares the joys and trials of owning a toddler and a smartphone.
When I received the invitation to review this book, Kathy’s biography read like a checklist for a possible new best friend. Mother of four children – Check. Loves Technology – Check. Canadian – oh wait, so maybe not a perfect match, since I live in Missouri, but you get the idea. How could I not love a book that I might, if I could find the time, write myself?
The book is written like a blog. Instead of traditional chapters, each entry has a date, title and ranges from one to five pages. It makes it ideal reading for the interrupted mother. Not to mention the tags at the end of each entry are their own little punchlines, often eliciting a louder outburst of laughter than the actual entry. Warning: don’t read this book in the presence of your children unless you repeatedly want to hear, “What’s so funny, Mom?”
Kathy takes us on a year-long journey beginning when Seamus (yes, she named her Blackberry) arrived on Christmas day. From there, she weaves the intriguing illustrations about how owning a BlackBerry and parenting a toddler are quite similar. She even offers insightful, humorous tips on how to wade through those tricky mommy situations like PTO meetings and bus stop gossip.
My favorite parts of the book are when Kathy shares about the struggles of being a work at home mom, or even just a technically savvy mom, while dealing with the more traditional stay at home mom types. A few weeks ago, my iPhone fell out of my pocket during a “Read to your parent” activity at my son’s school and a mom politely said, “I think that’s your phone, or, uh… whatever that gadget is, on the floor. I can’t keep up with all those things.” While I can’t call Kathy up (she doesn’t give her cell number in the book), reading her experiences at least made me feel a little less freakish. I may be the only first grade stay at home mom at our school who totes a smartphone, but I am not alone!
There are two major drawbacks to this book. Number one, it’s only in print. If they offered it in an electronic version (hello: Kindle for iPhone) I would have finished the book and my review much sooner. The second drawback to the book is that although it is moderately prices (currently under $12 on Amazon.com) it comes with a high hidden cost. As you might notice if you read the Amazon reviews, my experience was not an isolated one. Kathy leaves her readers with the electronic version of baby lust. So if you purchase this book for yourself or as a gift, make sure you are prepared to upgrade to a smartphone immediately. Otherwise, well, that’s just torture.
This book is fantastic. I highly recommend it (you know I don’t recommend everything I try). I think it is an essential read for any thoroughly modern mother, Millie, or mommy blogger.
Can’t wait another minute? You can follow @KathyBuckworth on Twitter or @BBDiaries for tour dates. Also, Kathy is a scheduled guest for Nov. 5th on this BlogTalkRadio show.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book to read and review from Weber Shandwick, after receiving an invitation via TwitterMoms.
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