Callie's Tally: An Accounting of Baby's First Year (or What My Daughter Owes Me)

I loved this book. I laughed so much and insisted on reading passages to my mom and/or husband throughout the book. As a first time mom of a baby girl, it was so funny to hear her take on the first year. It's very much in the same comic vein as the "girlfriend's guides" books. Raising a child is serious business, but you need to have a sense of humor! I sympathize with her desire a) to take back some control over the tumultuous event of having a child and b) reclaim and reintegrate your "old" life into this new one. I loved reading the financial "categories" for her expenses. I highly recommend the book and will add it to my list of baby shower gift books!

Loved it. I wish I had it when my daughter was born. Betsy writes about so many of the ups and downs of the first year. I will be purchasing it for all girlfriends when their first children are born!

Betsy Howie hooks the reader with the $$ gimmick but goes beyond the gimmick and straight to the heart of first time motherhood. This isn't really about the money at all, unless it's to say that babies are worth their weight in gold -- and then some! Any reader who thinks that raising kids is all sticky sweetness and sentiment should probably spend their money on a Thomas Kinkaid calendar instead of this book. But for those who appreciate unflinching honesty, don't take themselves too seriously, and are willing to acknowledge the whole range of mom-emotions, look no further. Like Anne Lamott's Operating Instructions, this book affirms the exhilaration of new motherhood while acknowledging that occassional bouts of the baby blues are perfectly normal. Add to that the fun that the author has at the expense of our acquisitive culture. Very funny -- and heartwarming too.

I read this book in a single sitting. Incredibly funny and fast reading, with the individual vignettes, it was impossible to put down. As the mother of five grown children, and the grandmother of 8, I found this book to be most entertaining and enlightening! How many of us have NOT wondered about the actual costs involved in bringing our kids into this world? It was refreshing to be able to look at Callie's "list" and know that those years are well behind me, thank goodness! Ah........ but I definitely could still relate.Betsy Howie has a special knack of making the reader feel a part of the unfolding drama of expecting and raising Callie through her first year. The book certainly brought back memories of my child-rearing years, and I once again found myself trying to find ways to "cut corners" with those expenses. :-) I found myself looking forward to the next party, the next "event", the next receipt...Another plus was Ms. Howie's reporting of the actual feelings she experienced with raising her daughter. Life isn't always a bed of roses when it comes to kids, and Ms. Howie honestly expressed her frustrations, her fears, her delights and her pride in her daughter. Such candor can often be lacking in works of non-fiction.And all of this is written with an underlying message that the dollars are not to be taken too seriously, that the expense is "worth it", and that in the end you get more than what you pay for.This is a definite "must have" for parents-to-be as well as grandparents, when the cycle actually begins anew. Which makes me wonder when "Bob" will publish HER accounting of grandmahood! It would be interesting to see which list tallies higher (been there, done that!).

This book made me laugh out loud, cry, really think - like any good story, movie or bottle of wine. The writing is fresh and very funny. One of my favorite lines is when Callie is wearing a new dress that wouldn't allow her to nap because when she moved the crinoline woke her up. She doesn't get any stains on it with her "Ninja spit-up maneuvers". The author states that "Clearly, this girl was born for dry-clean only." That is funny stuff. There is line and after line of funny commentary about her child that makes me laugh out loud. For me, the tally is secondary to the ever changing dynamic between mother and daughter : Callie and her mom, and the author and her mother. I like how the book is about how families take care of each other and in the author's case, her family is more than just blood, it includes friends, co-workers, and her community. I like that at the end of the book Callie has the final say. Callie assures us, the reader, that everyone is okay despite the worry she knows her mother feels. This touched my heart (read: tears flowed)And thank you notes ARE the foundation of civilization.