Ellie Slott Fisher

I know it’s rare to find some woman somewhere who isn’t in some way affected by another woman connected to a male in her life. Even a woman who only has daughters still has to face the mother and/or sister of her sons-in-law. Sorry ladies, there is no getting away from it. But to make you feel a little better, you need to meet Crystal, whose blog (Crystal & Company) is very, very funny. She wrote a book review of It’s Either Her or Me and illustrated it with a photograph of her little boy wearing a T-shirt with the book cover on it. Oh, and he was reading the book. So maybe I’m a little prejudiced. But seriously, Crystal has five sons. That’s right FIVE. And although they are years away from discovering girls (warning: years turn into months, months turn into days, and poof, where did she come from?) she is already considering how to handle her daughters-in-law. She will turn herself into their BFF, take them shopping and offer to watch the grandkids while her as of yet only imaginary daughters-in -law run errands. She’s also already expecting to have to move Christmas from her home to her daughters-in-law, and accept that they may very well move far away, taking her grandchildren with them. But as she says, if she plays her cards right, she’ll be encouraged to visit all the time and baby-sit her grandkids.

With this attitude, Crystal will do just fine.

By the way, besides being the mother of five little boys, Crystal is also the eldest sister of three brothers, two of whom are married and one who is about to be.

So just when you think you have it really tough with YOUR mother-in-law or sister-in-law or daughter-in-law, think of Crystal. And take a look at that adorable little boy wearing the T-shirt and reading the book and you’ll understand exactly why Crystal has already figured it out.

I’ve had a terrific response to my new blog page, Have Book Club, Will Travel! and so I’ve decided to run it as a blog. Here goes:

Starting in late spring, I will begin addressing book clubs, church and synagogue groups, school and library gatherings, bridal showers, bachelorette parties, junior leagues or any great group of girlfriends on the subject matter of It’s Either Her or Me. (Or how to get along with your mother-in-law, daughter-in-law or sister-in-law without really trying!)

If your group is interested, I will lead a discussion, reading and signing and will either bring copies of It’s Either Her or Me for sale or you can order directly from bookstores or on-line retailers.

Click Here to order It’s Either Her or Me from Amazon.

Since few fun things in life are totally free(!), expenses and fees are as follows: A speaker’s fee will apply to each appearance. In addition, if the event is hosted more than one hour’s driving time from Philadelphia, travel expenses will need to be covered. If the event is within one hour’s drive time from Philadelphia, travel expenses are waived.

My speaker’s fee will be waived for the first 10 groups that sign up!

Email me and we’ll talk. Can’t wait to meet you!

P.S. I’ve been asked if I would do these sort of events for Mom, There’s a Man in the Kitchen and He’s Wearing Your Robe and for Dating for Dads. You bet.

I just got a call from a friend whose eldest child is a 13-year-old boy. The day before she learned he had broken up with his girlfriend. She didn’t even know he HAD a girlfriend. Worse than having been kept out of the loop, her son wasn’t even the one to tell her. Instead, she learned about her son’s social life from a neighbor, who had heard it from her daughter.

The best advice I can give moms of young boys who are just beginning to pursue the opposite sex, is to befriend the mothers of the girls in your son’s class or in your neighborhood. Girls talk. Even if they don’t tell their moms everything about their own romantic lives, they have no problem telling them about someone else’s.

When my son was my in middle school, I drove him and another boy to a swim party at the home of a girl in their class. The mother of the girl greeted me at the door. She assured me she would be there to chaperone. But when another mother later went to pick up my son and hers, no adult answered the door. Instead our sons came to the door and ran to the car. They said the party was fun, but offered no other details.

It was weeks later when a mother of a girl in my son’s class told me that a couple of the girls had skinny dipped during that swim party. Obviously, her daughter wasn’t one of them so she told her mom. I was shocked, furious at the party girl’s mom, and forever made aware that I had a lot to learn – and it likely wasn’t going to come from my son.

How about your son? Is he more forthcoming that the ones I write about? Or have you just figured out how to pry the information out of him? Do tell!