While motherhood doesn't actually come with a job description, there is now "The Mothering Heights Manual for Motherhood: Volume 1: What we wish we knew before becoming a short order cook, shuttle drive, laundress Mother," a wonderful mix of stories, contemplations and advice from everyday moms, best-selling authors and Hollywood producers.

Edited by Christine Fugate, author of the parenting humor column and website "Mothering Heights," this collection will delight you with its candor, humor and insight. Highlights include the mommy drive-by, how to parent with a coffee can and dump laundry on a teenager. Serious topics such as finding an adoptive child's birth mother, raising a child with Down syndrome and recovering from post-partum depression are also featured.

Well-known Mama Lit writer Jane Porter ("Mrs. Perfect," "Odd Mom Out") said, "This achingly funny collection celebrates the modern mom with wit, wisdom and a whole lot of love." While Coast Kids Magazine wrote, "The Mothering Heights Manual for Motherhood: Volume 1" is a must-read, must-share book for all moms." A perfect gift for an expecting mom or veteran mom in need of a boost, "The Manual for Motherhood" will make you laugh at the insanity and cry at the beauty of what it means to be a modern-day mom.

Editor Christine Fugate began writing the syndicated column "Mothering Heights" to stave off the madness of getting married and having two kids in just twenty months. An award-winning filmmaker, she hassuccessfully embarrassed herself in front of George Clooney and Kate Hudson.