Wiped!: Life with a Pint-Size Dictator by Rebecca Eckler
320 pages	Villard	April 2007	Paperback

Following on the heels of Rebecca Eckler’s first book, Knocked Up, which was the story of her pregnancy, Wiped! takes us through the first two years of the life of Rowan, Eckler’s daughter.

Starting from the sleep-deprived days of having a newborn at home, Eckler’s first-person diary-style accounts allow the reader to be a fly on the wall while she and her fiancé attempt to figure out how to raise this child. Although Eckler says that she and her fiancé are not wealthy by any means, it certainly will appear that way to the run-of-the-mill mom out there. They have a full time nanny, can afford high-end baby equipment, and Eckler doesn’t think twice about spending large amounts at the store.

It’s easy to relate to the author’s baby-rearing dilemmas, trials and tribulations. Anyone who has had a child can empathize, and even those who haven’t can definitely sympathize with the fatigue, endless diaper changes, slow weight loss, and extreme neediness of the child (they nickname theirs The Dictator for that very reason). Yet by the end of the book, the author is definitely getting the hang of being a mother and even fantasizes about having another child.

There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments in Wiped!. They cannot figure out how to use the Diaper Genie but move it to their new home because it’s such a landmark in their baby’s room. Eckler gives her child a baby IQ test from the Internet and decides that Rowan is “below average” intelligence. These are just a couple of the moments that will give readers a chuckle.

Eckler is quite whiny and spoiled. Unfortunately, this detracts from the enjoyment of the book from time to time. She truly has it made but cannot seem to see how ideal her situation is. At one point she is diagnosed with post-partum depression, and this does redeem her whininess a little, but her self-centeredness does tend to grate on the reader after a while.

Wiped! is overall an enjoyable look into the life of a mother raising a young child. It would be a great gift for any mother on your shopping list, especially those who aren’t too far removed from the thrills and agonies of raising a young child.