The Surprises That Kids Throw Your Way Will Definitely Make You Say ‘Mamma Mia!’

Posted: March 4, 2021

‘What is a mom but an educated napkin?’ asks Pranoti Sheldenkar in her hilarious parenting book Mamma Mia. Major relate for all moms, right?

Parenting is all about juggling too many hats. You might think you have aced all of them but no wait, you haven’t. Let me add a little to the first sentence – “Parenting is all about juggling too many hats and finding zillion surprises along that journey.”

The surprises are galore. And if you think you are going to find just thunders in the form of those mighty surprises, then you are wrong as there are giggles too which will fill the pages of parenting.

The book Mamma Mia by Pranoti Sheldenkar captures different situations in a comical way. These are the situations that throw one in disarray or the ones you can’t stop guffawing about, and ones that make you one run for sanity. The situations are an equaliser and find them commonplace for the parents to talk and reminisce over coffee and dinners.

A hilarious code of parenting only they understand

It is a cryptic code that only parents can understand and maybe figure out. The author has done a commendable job in retaining all those terrifying yet hilarious moments. She has put them together so vividly that every parent who reads can walk through memory lane.

The little bizarre moments are carefully gathered and thrown in the book for the readers to read and colour. This book will undoubtedly bring back the same emotions if parents wish to bury it on their shelf after reading and unearth it many years later.

Some of my favourites from this montage would be:

The educated mom as the napkin

‘Twenty-two years of education have trained me to become a really qualified napkin.’

I loved the sentiment of the text and the apt image that goes with it. The mother is busy with her office call and juggling her laptop. And ta da! Her kid enters the picture with her soiled fingers all covered with ice-cream. The coveted certificate of excellence hangs adding a sarcastic flavour to the overall situation.

Kids’ shoes will always find muddy puddles

I can totally resonate with this theory as my daughter will somehow find some depression filled with muddy water in the even land. The kid in the book has a mocking grin and that’s how my daughter looks every time she throws her two legs in the muddy puddle.

Mom’s bag is the new hangout place

‘I think my bag is the new hangout where all those lonely, divorced, single socks come to brood.’

Not only socks, but there would also be sticky clay, unwrapped candy, and umpteen knick-knacks in my handbag. Right now, there is no dearth of surprises in my life when it comes to my handbag.

Very relatable picture where socks are hung in every nook and crannies of the bag. However, I would have liked it if the author had shown more articles and not just socks on top of the handbag. Nevertheless, the message hits the nail.

Not only there but there are other situations where you find the child’s grandmom taking sadistic pleasure in seeing her daughter or DIL stressed. You can see grandma watching her trying hard to feed the child while trying to do special yoga poses for moms. Or even the mother with a magic wand uttering a spell of homework and making the child vanish to yonder!

The book was incredibly relatable and hilarious

These are all the situations in the everyday life of a parent, replete with new discoveries and filled with struggled that stay untitled.

I have seen many adult colouring or doodling books but this is definitely one of a kind. Mainly because it is so relatable, breathes fresh humour on every page. One can relive those moments inside their head while throwing colours on the images.

The catchy text normalising the thrills and hiccups of parenthood is fun, engaging and a huge stress-buster. When you reiterate the emotion, the stress actually develops wings and flees off. This book offers you a huge slice of that. Read the funny anecdotes and doodle away to glory.

You can find your copy of the book right here for Amazon India and here for Amazon US!

Picture credits: Still from Disney+Hotstar’s Ad on YouTube

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