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I'm rarely so disappointed with a book In some ways, I'm the sort of woman that is part of this book -- I live in an affluent exurb of Washington DC. I'm a stay at home mother who put her child into daycare so she could write from home (not unlike the author). My husband works long hours. But other than that, I am so NOT the women described here, that I can't help but feel a little outraged that the women described here are like "all" of "us." Do I know overinvolved mothers? Oh yes. I knew one woman, who, after her son fell down hard while learning to walk, literally bent herself over backwards to hold his hands for two weeks. She was afraid he'd be "disappointed" with his first experience of walking. What? Was she afraid she'd be the only mother with a child scooting off to kindergarten (assuming she made the decision not to send him to preschool or daycare beforehand) instead of walking? To me, this form of motherhood has far more to do with the needs of these individual women than it does with motherhood in the twenty-first century. And as much as I agree that I would like to see more daycare options, better treatment of family issues for both men and women (I thought men were treated a bit stereotypically in this book -- I know plenty of fathers who are far far more involved than their fathers ever were and are proud to be so active in their children's lives) -- I don't believe that given the needs of the women here, a governmental solution is going to help these women or their families. After all, these are the same women who insist that private school is better than public school because it gives their children an advantage -- what governmental program, by necessity geared for all women and all children, are these women going to find acceptable to them? I really wish I could have responded better to this work -- I agree that we could use a FEMININE MYSTIQUE for motherhood. Unfortunately, Judith Warner is not Betty Friedan and A PERFECT MADNESS is not that book.