‘It is a hilarious, timely book – and a rare and potent antidote to the guilt, exhaustion and anxiety that threaten to poison every aspect of modern motherhood.’
The Sunday Times
I Don’t Know Why She Bothers: Guilt free Motherhood for the Thoroughly Modern Woman
Weidenfeld & Nicolson
2013
A timely, intelligent and important book for fans of LEAN IN and Caitlin Moran: why do modern mothers allow themselves to suffer from so much guilt?
Mothering skills are now scrutinised, measured, judged, discussed and disapproved of like never before. The bar is set so preposterously high, it’s impossible, at least in the early years, not to feel like a long lost loser: and honestly, mothers only have themselves to blame… Motherly love is ferocious, intense, fathomless, unconditional and absolute. Daisy will add a dusting of reality to the sickly sweet bake-your-own rubbish by covering topics such as breast pumps, other children, sleepovers, swearing (yours and theirs) and contagious diseases.
It’s time to burn the maternity bras and Daisy is the first at the stake to exclaim, ‘Enough! Life is short. Mothers adore their children. But they’re people too. And that is more than just a mother.’
‘Waugh’s book is not so much a call for bad mothering to return as a return to a more laissez-faire parenting, liberated from all the fear and guilt women impose on themselves…Waugh is refreshingly frank, swears like a sailor and debunks the sanctification of motherhood with relish….This is probably one of the funniest parenting guides you’ll find.’
The Observer
‘The provocative I Don’t Know Why She Bothers by Daisy Waugh is one for women who feel life is too short to make their own fish fingers! ‘
Good Housekeeping
‘I Don’t Know Why She Bothers isn’t a guide or a handbook; it’s merely saying what a lot of women think. No doubt the Mumgelicals will want to burn this book and Waugh’s effigy, but I think it should be given away free with every pregnancy test.’
Irish Independent
‘This self-help book deserves pride of place by on slummy-mummy Bridget Darcy’s bedside table. ‘
The Metro
‘To read this book as a new mother is to know the pure joy of someone speaking for – and up for – you at a time when you have not the resources to do so yourself…fantastically energetic, heartfelt and witty identification of all the absurdities created by maternal guilt…a hilarious, timely book.’
Lucy Mangan - The Sunday Times