I'm Okay, You're a Brat!: Setting the Priorities Straight and Freeing You From the Guilt and Mad Myths of Parenthood
Whether you are already a parent or just suspect you will be one  someday,I'm Okay, You're a Bratis sure to change your perceptions about  the responsibility. With individual chapters devoted to topics such as full-time  parenting, breastfeeding, custody in case of divorce, and remaining childfree,  the realism presented will shatter any remaining illusions you may be harboring.  Determined to explode the myth of continually joyous parenting, author Susan  Jeffers replaces it with a more realistic view of the life changes and emotional  difficulties associated with such a long term and essentially thankless task.  Jeffers accomplishes this by emphasizing the difference between loving your  children and actually enjoying parenting them, a difference that is rarely  examined in this age of guilty, overworked parents.Peppered with quotes from parents, researchers, and her earlier works (Feel the Fear and Do It AnywayandEnd the Struggle and Dance  with Life), the first chapters may come as a bit of a shock to parents  not able to freely admit to the daily struggle of parenting--while there are  most definitely rewards, who among us enjoys being spit up on? Where's the fun  in attending soccer matches when soccer bores you to tears? Who loves parenting  when the child just dented the new car and broke curfew? Jeffers insists it's  time to openly talk about the downside of parenting--the loss of privacy, lack  of sleep, financial struggles, and the instantaneous guilt felt by the majority  of parents whenever they attempt to express these downer feelings. Often funny,  and always thought provoking, you'll feel quickly reassured that you are not a  bad parent for feeling this way--in fact, by freeing yourself from the good/bad  parent complex, you may ultimately find greater personal fulfillment both as an  individual and as a parent.--Jill Lightner--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.