Rebecca Eckler talked about being pregnant in
KNOCKED UP: Confessions of a Hip Mother-to-be and in WIPED!
Life with a Pint-sized Dictator, the little angel has
arrived and is slightly less than angelic. Or maybe that's
just the perspective of a woman who has had little sleep,
can't fit into any of her clothes and wonders when life
could possibly be normal again.
Baby Rowan is, of course, a true joy to her parents, but
both Rebecca and her live-in partner (whom she calls The
Fiancé throughout the book), become quickly aware that they
weren't prepared for life with a baby. Despite the help of
a nanny, with whom Rebecca is unsure how she should
interact, it takes them awhile to adjust.
Luckily for the reader, there are numerous funny and
poignant moments as Rebecca and The Fiancé work through
these adjustments. Through birthdays, dealing with the
grandparents and learning to live without sex and sleep,
you'll be taken on a journey that will ring true -- at
least
in part -- for every parent out there.
The book opens with Rebecca walking into a wall and
breaking her nose. The Fiancé, instead of being properly
sympathetic, spends his time cautioning her to be quiet so
as not to wake the baby. The scene sums up all the changes
in your life that these precious, squalling, attention-
grabbing little ones bring.
As a work-at-home mother of three, WIPED! certainly brings
back memories. Those first two years -- well, WIPED! could
have been easily labeled Hell! But I've got to admit, the
beginning of this book put me off a little. In her aim at
humor and touching reality, Ms. Eckler ignored the moments
of joy. She eventually got there, but I was a little turned
off by the complete focus on the bad moments (and yes,
there are plenty of them, I'm aware!). Her complete focus
on getting her figure back and how bad she looked was also
a little off-putting. But while that focus didn't lighten
much, the book did begin to show how much she loved little
Rowen and how joyful she was, too. Another challenge for me
was the nanny. I think very few people who read this will
relate to having a nanny -- and Ms. Eckler's awkwardness
over that relationship and complaints about it ring a
little "spoiled" to most of us without the money for that
luxury.
It sounds like I didn't like this book, but somehow that's
not accurate. I think it's challenging to write a personal
experience book that everyone will relate to. Like Erma
Bombeck's work, there are parts that bring hysterical
laughter, near tears and some that don't touch your own
life experience. There is much of value in WIPED!
“Pregnancy was a 90-minute massage compared to life now.”
After her little bundle of joy, Rowan (aka The Dictator)
arrives, Rebecca Eckler wonders when the
promised “rewarding” part will kick in. She wasn’t supposed
to trade in tight jeans for baggy sweatpants, or give up
the dream of sound sleep and a passionate sex life. Yet,
even in the throes of her exhaustion, Rebecca gleans and
shares some sound advice for modern moms, including
everything you need to know on
• The Diaper Genie: “It’s been six weeks and we have yet to
use this ‘must-have’ baby item because we can’t figure out
how the damn thing works.”
• Achievement: “No matter how well I had done in school, no
matter what my career accomplishments were, my mother had
never been so proud of me as when I gave birth.”
• Keeping up appearances: “How is it possible that I
haven’t had a drink in months, yet still look worse than I
ever did hung over?”
• The effectiveness of baby monitors: “You can hear a baby
screaming through walls. Unless you live in the Taj Mahal
and place your baby at the other end of the palace, there
is no way you won’t hear her cry.”
• Size matters: “I had made the mistake of trying on a pair
of pre-pregnancy jeans, which I couldn’t get up past my
knees. It was the worst decision I have ever made.”
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