I just started reading Sandra Tsing Loh’s new book, Mother on Fire: A True Motherf%#$@ Story About Parenting! Although I am not done yet, I already can tell this is a must read if you have kids in school or are thinking about where your little “kido” will attend kindergarten.
Jill Davidson turned me onto Sandra Tsing Loh’s website last year. It’s geared towards helping parents better understand the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), but all the same, I loved the idea of her column, “Ask a Magnet Yenta,” and thought about creating our own Providence version of Martinis and Magnets (carefree soirees explaining the complicated magnet school system). I identified with some of her school experiences since my own children entered kindergarten in the Providence Public school system last fall.
Loh, a writer, performer, and NPR essayist, is an avid defender of neighborhood schools. In Mother on Fire, she shares her hilarious and emotional school-search odyssey and explains how she decided to quit worrying and learn to love public schools. I know from my personal school explorations, the experience can be daunting, so I appreciate her reminder to laugh out loud to help lighten the stress level and put the whole school ordeal in perspective.
Read her book for yourself and listen here for more from Loh in her recent Babble interview.
I loved this book and I don’t even have school issues–the way she lampoons different parents & teachers is spot-on and hilarious.