2 books tell of events where a mother goofed

There are few stories involving single mothers or teenagers.
By MARY MEEHAN
LEXINGTON HERALD-LEADER
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- No mother is perfect, no matter how hard she tries.
Most moms have burned some cupcakes, killed a goldfish or two or disciplined a tyke by using a word they really, really shouldn't repeat in front of others.
And most moms have lived to feel guilty about it.
And the guilt lasts much, much longer than whatever wounds you might unintentionally inflict on your child.
I still feel bad about missing Thanksgiving at pre-school because well, frankly, I forgot. My daughter, now 7, doesn't even remember it, but I've never managed to throw out the picture of her in her paper-bag Indian vest looking glum next to an empty chair.
So, hats off to the women who, by sharing their stories, show the often-wide rips in the superhero cape we all had hoped came with a birth certificate.
Basis of tales
Two books -- "The Kid Turned Out Fine," edited by Paula Ford-Martin (Adams Media, $14.95), and "The Imperfect Mother," edited by Therese J. Borchard (Broadway Books, $12.95) -- are collections of essays touching on all the things mothers regret, including the unwarranted punishments and the accidents that happen in the one moment we turn away.
"The Imperfect Mother" pulls mostly from published writers, including some well-known literary lights. Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of "Deep End of the Ocean," writes of being banned from the carpool after she was 15 minutes late -- again.
Another favorite in that tome was Muffy Mead-Ferro, author of "Confessions of a Slacker Mom," who admits to scheduling not a single organized activity for her children for an entire summer. (Gasp!) She and her children survived to tell the tale.
"The Kid Turned Out Fine" plows similar ground. These essays tend to neatly wrap the life lessons into a few tidy paragraphs, kind of "Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul." (Another book for moms, actually.) For my tastes, this book includes a few too many essays that contain some variation on the theme of "gee, being a mother is hard, but I love every single minute of it."
Nothing's perfect
It's a personal peeve, I'm sure, but I can't imagine that anyone loves every minute of anything. You can love your child every minute, but any woman can find herself pushed when, just a purely hypothetical example, the expensive spa shampoo you bought just for you, your only real indulgence in months, gets used up in a bathtub science experiment.
The books also appear to indicate that by the time children are 10 or so, there are no imperfect mothers anymore. Stories about teens are few and far between. Maybe those foibles aren't told quite so adorably.
Also, there were few stories about single mothers. Maybe those writers were just too busy to contribute.
Still, there's nothing like knowing your struggles are shared to make them seem lighter.
And, somehow, imperfect books about mothering seems just right.