The Missing Pages of the Parent Handbook

Brockett provides refreshingly easy-going, if relatively insubstantial, insights about the difficult art of child rearing. Writing essays about her own parenting difficulties, she came to believe that nearly all parents feel frustration at some point and solicited contributions from parents across the country. Her purpose is to offer a range of shared experiences, rather than pointers on baby burping or feeding. Among the topics addressed is parental dysfunction, as well as predicaments facing young children and teens. Brockett also offers an abundance of humorous stories and comes to the conclusion that "it really is all worth it." The identification of contributors by first names only reinforces the author's message that this work is by, and for, everyman and everywoman. Readers looking for shared experiences or flashes of insight may find some wisdom in Brockett's collection of essays; those seeking more profound guidance on filling out their own missing pages may need to look elsewhere.