The author herself is a successful mother, but most of the wisdom contained in this book she has learned after the fact. Because she wishes she had known these facts beforehand, she presents them for others to consider, hoping that future parents will look before they leap into the 20-year commitment of parenthood. This book decisively breaks the conspiracy of silence, which heretofore only presented motherhood is glowing colors. Non-parents know almost nothing of the problems of parenthood before they have children of their own. Each of these points is illustrated from the real-life stories of other women.
Some children are very hard to cope with because they are so selfish and demanding.
The teen years may be the hardest, with teens declaring and acting out their hatred of their parents. No matter how hard their parents try, some children are more the products of their peers and the mass media than of values their parents attempted to give them. Susan Jeffers asked people why they had children. She discusses about 30 of these 'reasons' pointing out their inadequacies. And she offers a 10-point test to see if potential parents are really ready to accept the responsibilities of parenthood for better or worse.