To close out the year, we picked a quick fiction book for Child(ish) Reads. A nice little palate cleanser for the holidays.
Class Mom by Laurie Gelman is the first book in a series starring Jen Dixon, a SAHM mom in Kansas City. She’s been given the Class Mom position in her son’s Kindergarten class and we’re following her throughout the school year, one email at a time.
This book is much more lighthearted than some of the motherhood fiction that has been coming out. Most of those books are very self-reflective and they’re unpacking generational trauma. This one is pretty much the opposite.
If I were sticking to an archetype, Jen would be a Lorelai Gilmore; a Gen X mom and former roadie who is witty, sarcastic, and not what comes to mind when you think of “class parent”.
Overall, I thought the book was mostly superficial and borders on painting parents as caricatures. It’s also pretty clear that the parents in the book are majority white and privileged. There are disagreements on parenting style, parents going full Karen, and dun-dun-dun, the hot single dad.
First things first, my kids’ school doesn’t do class moms. So I’m not really sure why it’s up to the class mom to arrange a back to school party with alcohol, or schedule parent-teacher conferences, or supervise Picture Day. Cut those factors out of the book, and there really isn’t a plot. I also think this class only has like 12 students…
That being said, we still got our nugget of truth: Parents are people, too.
Throughout the book, Jen tries to navigate and manage the parents with her sarcasm and pop culture-laced email announcements. These of course don’t land with a number of parents. In addition to the hot, single dad who Jen also knew from high school, there are the tiger parents, the mom whose kid has a million allergies, the same-sex couple, the mom who rubs it in that she’s from NYC and the subsequent lacky mom who wants to be in proximity to cool. Jen, of course, does hit it off with another cool, sarcastic mom and they become each other’s Bad Moms sounding board.
I’ll give it to Jen that at least she has goals, despite not really taking the role of Class Mom that seriously. In the beginning of the school year, she tells us that she wants to do well in a big mud race that she’s signed up for, and she’s hired a great friend-of-a-friend trainer to help. I like that she stays focused on this goal throughout the book and doesn’t let it fall by the wayside. I mean it’s not Real Housewives of Kansas City, but she does balance a pretty active social life. Throw in a bit of judgement, a backstory, and passive-aggressive sabotage, and it’s really not that far off from middle-class suburban life.
Yes, she only has one younger kid and yes, her husband owns a successful business. If we’re not keeping score on who is the bigger martyr, parents are just people trying to get through their lives. In fact, we (and Jen) slowly find out that all the parents in this group do have actual lives, hobbies, and friends. They are working through their relationships, they are reminiscing and mourning their former child-free selves, and they all are down for the mud race as well. At one point during the audiobook, I thought it sounded like these 40 somethings were acting like teenagers again.
That being said, I had no doubt that these sets of parents were actually good parents. Regardless of the aforementioned judgement or sabotage, none of these people read as absent, or neglectful, or uninterested in their child’s well-being or classroom performance. So that might just teach us that being a mom or dad isn’t our entire identity.
Is this the most interesting/moving/illuminating book on parenthood? No, but it’s an okay listen. Similar to watching a few episodes of Odd Mom Out or Working Moms. While I didn’t really expect to “feel seen”, I can connect with people who can ease up and find a bit of humor despite all the stress that parenting brings.
This is book #1 in a four-book series, and as Jen ages up from Kindergarten class mom to middle school team mom, we start seeing a little bit more realness. The other book blurbs hint at aging parents, her older daughter getting pregnant and Jen taking care of a grandchild, community fundraising, cutthroat sports and parenting a tween.
Browse here for more Child(ish) Reads.
Follow Child(ish) Advice on Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok.
Child(ish) Advice 