Kansas City mom Jen Dixon is getting ready to do it all over again. After raising two daughters, the love children of musicians (one possibly the former lead singer of INXS), she was done with parenting. Or so she thought. Her marriage to sports store mogul Ron Dixon brought her an exciting new life of love, sports equipment, and a new son.
So when it’s time to pick a class mom for kindergarten, Jen’s best friend and the head of the PTA turned to her and asked her to take in on again. And she agrees. Maybe it’s because with her daughters in college, Jen’s forgotten how much of a challenge it can be. Or maybe it’s because she’s been there before and knows the pitfalls. Or maybe she’s just a glutton for punishment. But whatever the reason, Jen agrees to take it all on, all over again. She agrees to be the class mom.
With scathingly funny emails and some questionable ethics, Jen navigates the obstacles of being class mom just as easily as she may one day navigate the Mud Run she’s training for. From parents with no discernible sense of humor to a most unusual teacher, from reconnecting with a high school crush to a class mom coup, Jen faces it all with snark, sarcasm, friendship, and wine.
Laurie Gelman’s Class Mom is as funny a novel as I’ve read in a long time. It’s like my favorite characters from my most-loved children’s books grew up and became a class mom. Anyone who devoured Ellen Conford, Judy Blume, Paula Danziger, and E.L. Konigsburg will recognize Jen as the adult version of the imaginary friends we had when we were younger. I wish she were real, so we could go to Stu’s Diner and get some of that pie!
I read Class Mom during a very difficult, stressful week, and it helped me to unwind and remember that there is more to life than the frustrating situation I’d found myself in. I highly recommend Class Mom for bad times and good. It’s a fantastically funny novel filled with the kind of people you want to hang out with in real life.