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Diary of a Crap Housewife
Why not cut the crap, take the pressure off and admit to the moments, days, weeks and months when the wheels of the household do fall off?
Why not cut the crap, take the pressure off and admit to the moments, days, weeks and months when the wheels do fall off? This crap housewife calls to unite all mothers who, like Jessica, sometimes feel they are not perfect.
In this fabulous, funny, down-to-earth book, The Diary of a Crap Housewife, Jessica Rowe writes honestly about her talent (or lack thereof) for cooking, about what's really important when it comes to mothering and family, and about her many and varied views, musings and commonsense advice on other #craphousewife matters.
Being a crap housewife is a badge Jessica wears with pride, and it's a title she invites other women to embrace. The idea of crap lies in the real-life messes, hiccups, disasters and bad meals that many of us dish up and deal with every day. This mum is tired of the photos of perfectly packed school lunches, posts about gourmet family dinners eaten together over the table, and tales of neat, tidy and obedient children with smoothly brushed hair.
It's time to reset the bar. Make expectations realistic. Strive to be kind, loving, smart and funny. Perfection is not required.
Why not cut the crap, take the pressure off and admit to the moments, days, weeks and months when the wheels do fall off? This crap housewife calls to unite all mothers who, like Jessica, sometimes feel they are not perfect.
In this fabulous, funny, down-to-earth book, The Diary of a Crap Housewife, Jessica Rowe writes honestly about her talent (or lack thereof) for cooking, about what's really important when it comes to mothering and family, and about her many and varied views, musings and commonsense advice on other #craphousewife matters.
Being a crap housewife is a badge Jessica wears with pride, and it's a title she invites other women to embrace. The idea of crap lies in the real-life messes, hiccups, disasters and bad meals that many of us dish up and deal with every day. This mum is tired of the photos of perfectly packed school lunches, posts about gourmet family dinners eaten together over the table, and tales of neat, tidy and obedient children with smoothly brushed hair.
It's time to reset the bar. Make expectations realistic. Strive to be kind, loving, smart and funny. Perfection is not required.
- GenresNonfictionHumor
256 pages, Paperback
Published April 1, 2019
10 people are currently reading
85 people want to read
About the author
Jessica Rowe
29 books13 followersJessica Rowe is an accomplished journalist, television presenter, speaker and author.
Jessica has written three bestselling non-fiction books: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times (co-authored with Penelope Rowe); Love. Wisdom. Motherhood.; and her memoir, Is This My Beautiful Life?
A proud 'crap housewife' herself, Jessica has gathered a strong and loyal following on her #craphousewife website, Facebook and Instagram. She celebrates and unites all mothers who sometimes feel they are not perfect.
Jessica also co-creates a hilarious and wise podcast with best friend and television icon Denise Drysdale, called One Fat Lady and One Thin Lady.
A passionate advocate for mental health awareness, Jessica is an ambassador for beyondblue and a patron of Mental Health Australia. In 2015, she was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for both her advocacy work and contribution to Australian media.
Jessica is married to journalist Peter Overton and they have two young daughters.
Jessica has written three bestselling non-fiction books: The Best of Times, the Worst of Times (co-authored with Penelope Rowe); Love. Wisdom. Motherhood.; and her memoir, Is This My Beautiful Life?
A proud 'crap housewife' herself, Jessica has gathered a strong and loyal following on her #craphousewife website, Facebook and Instagram. She celebrates and unites all mothers who sometimes feel they are not perfect.
Jessica also co-creates a hilarious and wise podcast with best friend and television icon Denise Drysdale, called One Fat Lady and One Thin Lady.
A passionate advocate for mental health awareness, Jessica is an ambassador for beyondblue and a patron of Mental Health Australia. In 2015, she was awarded a Member of the Order of Australia for both her advocacy work and contribution to Australian media.
Jessica is married to journalist Peter Overton and they have two young daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
October 15, 2019
Excellent portrayal of any one of us... along with tons of guilt, depression, and imperfections. Hilarious in parts, seriously painful in others. Jessica Rowe writes a very down-to-earth portrait of her life complete with the many flaws that are so relatable to most women. This is the 2nd book of hers I have read this year and I really enjoyed them both. I hope this "Crazy Cat Lady" keeps sharing her stories as there will always be people like me who love to read them. Highly recommended.
September 13, 2019
I can see the audience for this book, but it's not me...
August 25, 2021
This book slightly irritated me on a few different levels. Firstly, there was a lot of stuff covered that she had already written about in a previous book, in fact quite a lot of stuff. I finished reading it on the same day I noticed she was selling her Vaucluse house for $7 million plus to "upsize". Through this book too, and I am happy to be proven wrong, there appeared to be 'product placing' eg plenty of mentions of Hugo Boss shirts, RM Williams boots, Miu Miu coats, Dolce & Gabbana dresses etc etc
I admire her honesty in writing but I suppose overall I got the impression she is coming from a place of privilege. She can afford cleaners, nannies, psychiatrists etc and I wondered if there was much relevance to a battling single mother for example. To be fair, the author does make this point as well. Overall, I suppose I became a little cynical about this book and may have enjoyed it all had I not read her earlier book.
I admire her honesty in writing but I suppose overall I got the impression she is coming from a place of privilege. She can afford cleaners, nannies, psychiatrists etc and I wondered if there was much relevance to a battling single mother for example. To be fair, the author does make this point as well. Overall, I suppose I became a little cynical about this book and may have enjoyed it all had I not read her earlier book.
June 10, 2023
2.5 stars. I like Jess Rowe and her passion around mental health, so was keen to see what she had to say. The mental health chapter and the one on Botox I enjoyed most. Overall not a difficult read and she seems like a lovely person. Though can’t say I’ll try her recipes…
May 6, 2019
Loved this. Gave me all the good feels. Like having a latte with one of my “peoples”. This was just a real book about real life and how really we should applaud each other through life rather than pulling down. I think this will be my new “go-to” book when I need brightening up.
July 8, 2019
A light, fun feel good book by Rowe. Always good to reinforce the message that there is no such thing as a perfect wife and mother.
June 13, 2020
I love Jessica and her realness, honesty and authenticity. I too had postnatal mental health issues so I've always related to her and her courage in sharing her struggles publicly. This is an easy and mostly lighthearted read, and effectively challenges the mother-guilt that pervades our society in relation to fitting the 'domestic goddess' persona. Her cooking fails had me in stitches of recognition! I enjoyed getting to know her a little more as she was quite open about some of her background experiences. However I only give it 3 stars as I felt it needed a bit more depth and substance, and maybe could've been a bit longer as it seemed to end abruptly without any real summary, and might've benefitted from more structured topics rather than meandering at times. But overall I'm now even more of a fan of Jessica and I'm inspired to care less what others think of me and follow my own path.
May 19, 2020
A friend asked me along to an evening on "crap housewives" in Paddington a while back and I found Jess to be totally different to how I expected, but still absolutely funny, charming and emotionally engaging (like this book). Her mum was there too, sitting right in front of us. She was also hilarious, shouting out her opinion: "bad title!" and generally being very fun and real. This book sat to the side for a while but ended up making its way into the loo - and honestly, it's the perfect way to read something so relatable. In short snippets, with paper nearby for all the happy/sad tears that will almost certainly surprise you while reading this!
July 12, 2019
Loved Jessica’s honesty and frankness in this book. Humorous too which I enjoyed. She is funny, real and empowering.
May 19, 2022
Lessons i got out of this book:
1) It is perfectly ok to lend your voice to a plethora of stuffed animals whilst playing with the kids and their army of soft toys (often in public)
2) Clutter is not the end of the world (gasp)
3) Short hair rules!!!! I have always favoured short hair and often felt like I somehow betrayed the sisterhood. Not anymore!!!
4) My baking disasters are now proudly being featured on Instagram under #craphousewife instead of being quietly disposed of in the dead of night.
I raised my eyebrows at a few things, but hey everybody to their own! Just cause I hail from a traditionally low maintenance line of women doesn't mean I have to judge other people for their life choices.
The main lesson I chose to take from it - embrace yourself for who you are and be comfortable in your own skin. For we often are the worst judges and executioners.
1) It is perfectly ok to lend your voice to a plethora of stuffed animals whilst playing with the kids and their army of soft toys (often in public)
2) Clutter is not the end of the world (gasp)
3) Short hair rules!!!! I have always favoured short hair and often felt like I somehow betrayed the sisterhood. Not anymore!!!
4) My baking disasters are now proudly being featured on Instagram under #craphousewife instead of being quietly disposed of in the dead of night.
I raised my eyebrows at a few things, but hey everybody to their own! Just cause I hail from a traditionally low maintenance line of women doesn't mean I have to judge other people for their life choices.
The main lesson I chose to take from it - embrace yourself for who you are and be comfortable in your own skin. For we often are the worst judges and executioners.
January 11, 2020
I decided to read Jessica’s crap housewife book after I read her memoir “is this my beautiful life?” Which I really enjoyed. I’ve grown to like Jess over the years (after initially not being sure) and The book had me thinking “maybe I should be a bit more like her” she owns who she is and embraces her life with enthusiasm, honesty and humour, and I really like that about her.
The book is more light hearted than her memoir and is split into chapters like “fashion” “school” “housework” and in each chapter Jess recounts experiences and shares her thoughts around the theme, and an easy recipe for other crap housewives who struggle with the daily grind of providing meals for the family.
The book is more light hearted than her memoir and is split into chapters like “fashion” “school” “housework” and in each chapter Jess recounts experiences and shares her thoughts around the theme, and an easy recipe for other crap housewives who struggle with the daily grind of providing meals for the family.
January 18, 2022
Bingo!
Diary of a Crap Housewife by Jessica Rowe
I’ve always admired Jess over the years .. she’s a crazy cat lady and a little bit out there 😝
In her book about being a crap housewife, she covers topics such as cooking, friends, courage, mental health and mothering.. Her very real account of her messy life is really refreshing. She can’t cook, clean or keep house but she loves her family fiercely and is a Beyond Blue ambassador.. having struggled with PND after both her girls she gives a raw warts and all account of her battle with depression.. A really fun read !
This ticks off book #7 in #ktbookbingo (less than 250 pages)
Diary of a Crap Housewife by Jessica Rowe
I’ve always admired Jess over the years .. she’s a crazy cat lady and a little bit out there 😝
In her book about being a crap housewife, she covers topics such as cooking, friends, courage, mental health and mothering.. Her very real account of her messy life is really refreshing. She can’t cook, clean or keep house but she loves her family fiercely and is a Beyond Blue ambassador.. having struggled with PND after both her girls she gives a raw warts and all account of her battle with depression.. A really fun read !
This ticks off book #7 in #ktbookbingo (less than 250 pages)
July 4, 2019
I did enjoy reading this book and can relate to a lot of what Jessica is saying about being a not so perfect housewife, let's face it we all dislike housework and cooking, I, like Peter, have made the leap into food home delivery which has changed my life. The things I didn't like about this book was that there was a lot of personal information in it that I felt the public didn't need to know about.
August 28, 2020
I really appreciated the raw, unfiltered and honest anecdotes in this book.
December 1, 2020
I really enjoyed this book. It was nice to hear that a celebrity could be so real, so crap at cooking and housework and not feel the need to fake it. She’s just a normal mum and wife with everyday struggles.
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews