Catherine Newman’s book Waiting for Birdy has become one of my all time favourite books.  Newman used to write for a magazine I liked called Wonder Time.  I stumbled across this book in the parenting section of my bookstore one day, recognized her name and bought it.  I adore it.  It’s been in my possession for just over a year, and in that time I have read it probably half a dozen times.  As soon as I finished my first read, I set it down, then picked it back up and started rereading.  Yes, it’s that good.

Waiting for Birdy is touching, hilarious, heartbreaking and hysterical all at once.  I laughed out loud and also wiped tears.  Here’s the sort of subtitle from the front cover:  “a year of frantic tedium, neurotic angst, and the wild magic of growing a family.”  It charts the year she was expecting her second child, while raising a toddler-and it hits every note perfectly and honestly.  It’s so well written and witty it would be enjoyed by any reader, but in my opinion the real draw is for moms of one or more kids.  I read this while expecting my second child and the truths written by Newman will knock you flat. 

The inside cover lists her accomplishments at time of printing:  “Catherine Newman is the author of the popular childraising journal, “Bringing Up Ben & Birdy” on BabyCenter.com.  She is a contributing editor for FamilyFun magazine, and her work has been published in numerous magazines and anthologies, including the New York Times bestselling The Bitch in the House and Toddler.  She lives in Massachusetts with her family.”

Reading this book is like having someone see inside my own brain as a parent…and it’s amazing and bizarre all at once.  She writes in the exact romping, leaping, funny yet more than mildly crazy way many of we moms think.  How comforting.

Get it, get it, get it.