Pairing Bil Keane (Of "Family Circus" fame) and Erma Bombeck was a stroke of genius. These two work very well together - it's a shame they didn't do more work together.

Of course, the title is the "mother's curse" - if you had a mom, you may remember her using that line on you. I often wonder if that's why some people don't have children.

This book takes you thru "expert" advice - and than shows you how the situation plays out in the real world. If you are a parent of a teen, you may want this book just so you can remember they don't stay teenagers forever (they _don't_ , really - tho sometimes it's hard to believe).

So get this book, find a quiet spot (HA! what's that, the bathroom?) and enjoy - it's cheaper and more fun that psychotherapy.

If you like funny stories that ring true about being a parent, Erma Bombeck's the writer for you. If you want hysterical drawings of teenagers, Bil Keane is your cartoonist. They create a championship team of angst-relieving humorists for parents waiting up until 4 a.m. for the teenager who was supposed to be home at 10:30 p.m., and cannot be located.

The book was originally written about 25 years ago, so you will occasionally need to go back in time to understand the humor. The hair stories are all like that. Suffice to say, female and male teenagers wore very long hair then. It was often difficult to tell to which sex a person belonged. The humorous possibilities of this are wonderful, and well exploited.

I had the opportunity to meet Ms. Bombeck many years ago, and found her to be as self-effacing and interesting in person as her writing shows her to be. Much humor in books is aimed at putting down someone else. But Ms. Bombeck mixes lots of love with her humor, and the humor is often aimed at herself and other adults. That's what makes this book and its humor so heart-warming, even though she and Mr. Keane share eloquently about the frustrations of being a parent (especially a Mom).

If you are not familiar with her humor, it has a lot in common with slapstick. She takes an ordinary situation that often will not run smoothly (like teaching one's child to drive) and piles every single thing that ever goes wrong into one, nonstop, fast-paced incident. As disaster after disaster occurs, you find yourself overloaded with emotional discharges that can only be relieved by a good belly laugh. Think of it as an innoculation against frustration when a less challenging incident occurs.

The topics covered are pretty encyclopedic. You will learn about selective memory (forgetting to do chores, but remembering what one received at a certain age if a sibling gets more), driving lessons (how the other parent undermines the more cautious one), the futility of trying to keep up with swiftly changing styles (even the Mom who tries to keep up cannot, because she doesn't know how the styles changed during that day at school), how the telephone disappears until the teenagers leave the house, teenagers' fear of being embarrassed by their parents, the agonies of family vacations, the fall of parental intelligence as the teenagers get older (in the eyes of the children), loud music, money, proms, braces, boy or girl friends, worrying, and arguments.

Ms. Bombeck had three children, and uses them as her source of material. What she does especially well is capture the busyness of being a parent. When a special opportunity to make a connection comes along, it always seems like there are 6 other things that have to be done simultaneously. Her indirect message is to get rid of the busyness and focus on the connections on those rare occasions when they arise. I heartily agree with that.

The chapters are done in an amusing point-counterpoint style. The point is to quote some famous authority on parenting at the beginning of the chapter (many of whom were childless) who describes what parents should be doing. Then Ms. Bombeck describes the reality of what parents are up against as the counterpoint. Then she humorously wrings her hands over the futility of following the advice. This style works very well. Following the counterpoint perspective will also help free you from trying to follow impossibly high standards that will only drive you crazy.

But, at bottom (despite the sarcastic remarks), this is a loving book. Ms. Bombeck and Mr. Keane have lots of love for the teenagers and the parents. It's that love that makes the humor work, and makes this book add up to the following advice: Love 'em and enjoy 'em as teenagers . . . just the way they are.

After you finish laughing along with this book, go do something nice for a teenager. Then give yourself a good feeling for doing that. And repeat the process. The more you do it, the better you'll enjoy it.

And don't tell them: Just wait until you have children of your own. It doesn't work as a threat. Feel free to shout that imprecation though to the top of your lungs when they are temporarily out of the house. It'll make you feel great!

Keep smiling and laughing. It's the only relief . . . until they finally outgrow being teenagers!

Honestly, darlinks, I just love this book. Famed columnist Erma Bombeck teamed up with "Family Circus"'s Bil Keane to create an unusual and enjoyable book.

Both of them write/draw columns/cartoons that talk about raising teenagers in the 70s (when this was originally published, I think) Keane's cartoons are not "Family Circus" in later years, but instead are sometimes-surreal glimpses of seventies parents and kids, such as the girl who has what appears to be a palm-tree-like growth of hair on her head, or the boy carrying a restaurant's worth of food to his room.

Ms. Bombeck covers adolescent embarrassment, sex talks with parents, haircuts of the time, and so on. Her columns are funny, witty, and most of all, ACCURATE--especially with Keane's cute cartoons. Too bad it's such a short book--I could read this stuff forever.

Two side-splitting comic panel artists, the legendary Johnny Hart and the ever-pursued Bil Keane build their cartoon crown of thorns in this novel concept book. Although the slightly unnerving image of the Apostles looking like Jeffy and PJ can give one pause, the message is certainly clear and enlightening. Makes a great gift for letting your Sunday School friends know your sense of humor.

Mirth for the Millenium presents 2000 good reasons to be a happy Christian. There's enough material here to keep preachers and inspirational speakers tickling the funny bones of their audiences for two more millenia. You can almost imagine Jesus himself smiling when he hears these quips, quotes and jokes passed around his modern day followers. Try this book whether you're a believer or not.

It took me a while to figure out the pun of this title. First I thought it was like "Sing Me A Love, Aby" but that didn't make sense, so I thought it might be Sing Me A Lo, Vabeby!" But that didn't work either. Then I figured out it was like "lullaby" but different because "lull" was "love."

The I laughed.

And didn't stop until I put the book down!

Once again, Mr. Keane focuses his penetrating gaze on all the things I--and many other daddies--find so warm and cuddly about families. Like kids. And furry pets, extra-loving grandparents, the joys of a clean home, happy family restaurant nights, etc. Although there is no "theme" for this book, its overall message comes through loud and clear: The family is here to stay, and Pop holds it wher it is.

"We Didn't Do It", Bil Keane's childhood cartoon primer which seeks to exonerate the Reagan administration from its complicity in the economic debacle that was the end of the 20th century is truly insidious in its attempt to pursuade the children of "Generation Y" that the imminent collape of western society that is soon to come upon us in this century is due to the mishandling of the Clinton/Gore years. While I find it odious that even the most starkly craven Republican idealogue would stoop so low as to peddle such a swindle upon the minds of our youth, I nonetheless must give this book four stars, if only for the sheer brilliance of his audacity: this is must-read for any parent who would care to gaze upon the dark underbelly of political caricature and its role in catechization of a new generation of unsuspecting pawns of the Illuminati. No one single panel of this comic would reveal the true intentions of the artist, but anyone with the slightest bit of political acumen who would take the time to see these works collected together in one place would soon see a forming gestalt of his connivance.