Mrs.Perfect...

Because I have been procrastinating on writing my blog post about procrastination, I am going to post an article/book review I had published last fall in She Magazine, a local magazine published by our news paper. Enjoy and have a very Happy Mother's Day!!!!!
  

     There are so many books that I love, it was difficult to choose one book that had the most influence in my life. Mrs. Perfect, by Jane Porter because it made me sit back and think about life and I wanted all my friends to read it because it shared such an amazing message and made a huge impact on me.

     Marta Zinzer is a single mother who recently returned to her home town to help take care of her ailing mother and start her own Ad agency. She has always prided herself in being an individual and tries to pass that on to her daughter Eva. Eva is more interested in being like all the other girls and fitting in and having a “normal” mom. Marta decides to get involved in Eva’s school and it is no surprise that she is not accepted by the perfect Alpha Mom’s. This is where Mrs. Perfect, Taylor Young comes in. 
     We all know and dislike a woman like Taylor Young. She is the quintessential Alpha Mom. She and her husband are the perfect couple. Her designer wardrobe is perfect. Her children are always dressed perfectly as she takes them from one perfect after school activity to the next.         
     Eventually, Taylor’s perfect world crumbles around her. Her husband loses his job and they lose everything due to her compulsive spending on $200 bras, designer clothes and vacations. She is forced to sell everything and move into a small rental house. And the worst is that she has to take a job working for Marta! The other model mom’s shun her as if she has a communicable disease. Taylor finally learns that your real friends are the ones that stand behind you when you need them most and surprisingly finds that friend in Marta.
     I completely sympathized with Marta’s daughter Eva. I remember what it was like to be that age and wanting to fit in with the popular crowd but no matter what I did, I could never completely fit in. The pain of constantly feeling left out and rejected was all too familiar. We had many similarities in our lives. My mom worked and was older than the other moms. My sister was much older so I was like an only child. And even though we were well off, my immigrant parents didn’t understand why I wanted to be like everyone else and have what everyone else had.
           I always wanted to grow up and be like Taylor and be the perfect mom who was involved with everything at school and had the perfect life. Luckily, I didn’t and I am very happy, although I may not fit in the cookie cutter mold, I have a wonderful family with a man I love, wonderful friends and most of all everyone is happy! It’s not the things we have that make us happy; we need to remember to love what we have and who we are to be happy.