New Book, Peanut Butter, Playdates & Prozac Slays the June Cleaver Image

Deerfield, IL (PRWEB) August 23, 2006

If the media and a slew of recent books have it right, today’s moms are under more pressure than ever. Minivan moms and working mothers worry about their choices. Nervous parents hire tutors to teach their toddlers to read and coaches to potty train their kids. Playgrounds are virtual ghost towns, with many three year-olds already playing organized sports. It’s no wonder moms today are so stressed.

Author and humorist, Arlene Schusteff, says moms need to take a deep breath, relax and get a little perspective. She pokes fun at the craziness through essays, parodies, anecdotes and even a sing-along in her real-life look at modern moms in Peanut Butter, Playdates & Prozac: Tales From a Modern Mom.

“June Cleaver is dead,” Schusteff claims from her home in the suburbs of Chicago. “But the media is still portraying mothers as one-dimensional characters. Either we’re modern day June Cleavers, seductive vixens or inadequate and in need of a SuperNanny intervention. It’s time to take the mask off motherhood and expose it for what it really is…a fun, scary, maddening, boring, wonderful and unpredictable journey.”

In “Mommy, What is Erectile Dysfunction and Will you Buy Me One?” and “Starbucks Stepfords” Schusteff takes a humorous look at the effects hyper-parenting, chaotic schedules and the quest for perfection have had on modern motherhood. From Reality T.V. and iPods to Lunchables and over-the-top Halloween celebrations, Schusteff has embedded her book squarely in today’s motherhood trenches, making her words highly relatable for today’s mom.

Schusteff first realized the power of the pen when she was eight years-old and an essay she wrote won her a backstage pass to meet the Jackson 5. Her work has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, Family Fun, SHOP, the Los Angeles Times and a host of local parenting publications. She lives in Deerfield, IL, with her husband and two children. This is her first book.

(Wyatt-MacKenzie, September 2006) ISBN # 1-932279-41-5. Interviews and review copies available on request    

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