Book Review - I Made A Boo Boo by Shivangi Sharma

For someone who writes on positive parenting approaches for the modern day parent, I must admit, I hardly read parenting books. In fact, the only one I have read so far is by a celebrity who calls herself a the name that tickles you just to say it out loud; and that too because there was nothing else available for a three hour flight!

So when I received a copy of I Made A BooBoo! by Shivangi Sharma for a review, I didn’t know what to expect. I was probably looking for some pointers maybe, a few quizzes, a lot of Do’s and Don’t’s, with a few real life and hypothetical situations thrown in, some gyaan….I don’t know. But what I did find, was something extremely unique, that was also, amazingly familiar!  

In fact, to call this book a parenting book, according to me, is a misnomer. This is more a coming of age story of a mother; and from one mother to another – something that every mother needs to relive!

There is a mom in this book who is just like you and me. She is clueless initially, and learns on the job as she transforms into a hands-on mom! There is also a dad in this book who is all too familiar to us. He is a good sport, the typical “fun-dad” who is his little son’s favourite! The fact that he gets on his wife’s nerves is a different matter altogether :)

But the star of the book is the baby; who is nothing like your baby or mine; and yet, everything like them! This book is also a coming of age book for this star baby, who starts out as a clueless infant who only knows that somehow he controls the strings of the household; and eventually turns into a handsome two year old who, in the process, teaches his mom and us readers a very important message that life is all about living in the moment!

Reading this book felt like looking at an album that contains the first two years’ worth of memories of your child. Only this album is not in the form of pictures, but in words! Mesmerizing, pertinent and touching words – that, are bound to bring out the fondest of your memories and in case you are just planning for a baby, words that would make you aware of the whole parenting process with such sincerity and candidness, that it will be like watching a 3D movie!

In this book, the author describes the changes in a woman’s life in the process of becoming a mother. It is a story every parent can relate to; and is an honest and beautiful attempt at capturing and portraying in words the myriad emotions that a mother faces as she acquaints herself with life with her little one!

I have never been a fan of non-fiction and I treated this book too like a story; but as I read this book, I found myself forgetting the fact that it is the author’s story. It felt like she had described the first two years I spent with my own son! I have marveled at the pace at which the book progressed and I have found myself being drawn into the story like any other fiction I had read. I have had tears in my eyes as I read certain sections of this book and I have also laughed out loud in public (as I waited outside my little one’s gym class) as I read the author’s humourous take on tricky situations that parents almost always find themselves into.

A book you read is only as good for you as much as you can relate to it they say; and that is why, this book I am sure, will stay with me for a long time to come. What makes this book special is the fact that this is a story that every mother can recount. The sleepless nights, the clueless first few months, the dilemma of joining back work or not, the guilt of a parent, the thrill of being a parent, the responsibilities of being a parent, the experience of living abroad with a baby, the experience of raising a baby all by yourself, the experience of travelling with your baby, the different ways in which a “mom” parents a child and a “dad” parents one are described beautifully by the author in words that are simple, lucid, and moving! I am sure you will find yourself nodding your head many a times when you read about an experience you have shared with the author and also laughing at situations which somehow seem funny now that your baby is all grown up, but had you clamouring for peace when you actually faced them!

As parents, we all think it is our duty to teach our children the right things, the right values; but it is actually the little ones, who teach us the real meaning of life, the purest form of love and to see humour in every situation, no matter how bad!  

This book poignantly hammers the message home that ‘all your work, all your debate about working or staying at home, all your guilt about leaving your baby at daycare – all those worries that seem like a big deal today, will look trivial when you look back when both you and your baby are older and you have learnt from your baby the true meaning of life!’

At the end of it, the biggest takeaway of this book for me, is the lesson that life has a pace of its own and parenting even more so. So don’t rush through parenting. The days may seem long now, but don’t forget, the years are short; and before you know it, your little bundle of joy will grow up and all you will be left with will be memories. So cherish these memories, live in the moment and enjoy what you have!

And excellent and fun book I would recommend for all mom to read. You will find yourself in there, I am sure; and also someone very close to your heart!

This review was originally done for and published on indianmomsconnect.com