Thirty-six eloquent and witty writers lay bare the truth about motherhood in a collection of provocative, funny, and ultimately reassuring personal narratives.

Deftly dismantling the myth of the supermom, The Imperfect Mom is candid look at the common pitfalls and perils of parenting. In engaging original essays, award-winning novelists, famous columnists, and bestselling authors share the missteps, confusion, and careless mistakes of their child-raising years. From lighthearted anecdotes to recollections of near tragedies, their stories capture the swing of emotions and the unanticipated challenges every mother experiences.

Gail Belsky, the former executive editor of Working Mother, writes about the emotional conflicts that led to the secret circumcision of her; veteran journalist Judith Newman recounts the hair-raising event that sent her and her twins to the emergency room; popular author Andrea Buchanan describes how a pile of dirty laundry saved her son from serious injury; and award-winning novelist Caroline Leavitt tells how her own brush with death during the first year of her son's life affected both mother and child. Other writhers discuss the demanding day-to-day routines and the personality “flaws” that undermined their attempts to be the perfect mom. Jacquelyn Mitchard, for example, divulges that she was expelled from her neighborhood carpool for showing up late one too many times. And Ayun Halliday confesses to her addiction to the catfights that would unfold on the discussion boards of a parenting Web site.

A compassionate testimony to parents who don't always have it all figured out, The Imperfect Mom portrays portrays universal feelings of maternal doubt, inadequacy, guilt, and ambivalence-and the incomparable joys of mothering that override them all.

THERESE J. BORCHARD is a nationally syndicated columnist and editor of I Love Being a Mom. She has published articles in parenting, Ladies' Home Journal, American Baby, and the Washington post, and is a regular guest on national radio and television programs. She lives in Annapolis , Maryland .