Don't Wait Up

Confessions of a Stay-at-Work Mom

By: Liz Astrof

Narrated by: Liz Astrof

“The parenting genre is never going to be the same” (Jancee Dunn, author of How Not to Hate Your Husband After Kids) after this candid and hilarious collection of essays on motherhood from the award-winning television comedy writer and producer of 2 Broke Girls and The King of Queens, who swears she loves her kids—when she’s not hiding from them.

Some women feel that motherhood is a calling and their purpose on earth. They somehow manage to make pregnancy look effortless, bring out the beauty in a screaming child, and keep the back seat of their cars as spotless as their kitchens.

And then there are women like Liz Astrof—who originally had children because “everyone else was.”

In this blunt and side-splittingly funny book of essays (previously published as Don’t Wait Up), Liz Astrof embraces the realities of motherhood (and womanhood) that no one ever talks about: like needing to hide from your kids in your closet, your car, or a yoga class on the other side of town, letting them eat candy for dinner because you just can’t deal, to the sheer terror of failing them or at the very least losing them in a mall. And sometimes, many times, wondering if the whole parenting thing wasn’t for you.

Perfect for fans of Let’s Pretend This Never Happened and I Heart My Little A-Holes, Stay-At-Work Mom is a soul-baring and honest look at parenting and relationships for moms who realize that motherhood doesn’t have to be your entire life—just an amazing part of it.

Critic reviews

“Liz Astrof is wickedly funny, which is an overused term, but I feel should be solely reserved for Liz. She lets you into her life and doesn't try to sugarcoat it. It's unflinchingly honest and so effortlessly hilarious. I can't tell if Liz is insane or not, which, I swear, is a compliment.”

(Justin Halpern,)

"No one makes me laugh harder than Liz Astrof. This book is the best combination of her biting humor, self-deprecating wit, and so so so much heart. It had me in tears from page one. This is a must-read memoir for anyone who has a mother or is a mother or knows a mother. Even if you can spell ‘mother.’”

(Emmy Award-nominated actress and comedian Molly Shannon)

“Refreshingly honest and hilarious! Astrof says out loud what so many parents are afraid to admit."

(Karen Alpert)

"I found this book utterly disturbing. Not because of Liz's unique take on motherhood, a self-proclaimed Stay-at-Work Mom, but because in a million years I will never write anything this funny. And that is unacceptable."

(Emmy Award-winning actor Jack Burditt)

"Astrof is like the hilarious, did-she-really-just-say-that friend you would kill to have at school pickup—the one that makes you explode in gleeful, scandalized laughter. She goes there—and the parenting genre is never going to be the same."

(Jancee Dunn)

“Raw, bold, heartbreaking, ridiculously funny, and wildly inappropriate—I would expect nothing less from Liz Astrof. As someone who's seen the inside of her diaper bag—I can tell you, the stories are all true.” (Actress Whitney Cummings)

“So funny, so relatable, just... genius.” (Emmy Award-winning actress and television host Sara Gilbert)

“A hilarious and heartfelt essay collection… sidesplitting. Though Astrof’s collection is often trenchant in its look at her own difficult childhood, it is also permeated with a sense of love for her kids, and is sure to resonate deeply.”

“The author delivers one punchline after another… Droll wit and profundity swirl together in a revealing memoir from a successful comedy writer.”

LOVED this book

To me, as a working mom that honestly can't imagine a SAHM life, this book hit every.single.note. with me. It was laugh out loud hilarious, entertaining, and spoke a tone that is so rarely talked about (the highly rewarding world of working moms who love their kids and are totally in awe of them, but also have a love for their jobs!). The only downfall, is that the book ended.

Hilarious and touching

Laugh out loud funny, moving, and relatable. Could not stop listening!!!! Anyone with children or parents will enjoy this book.

Fantastic

If you can handle extreme sarcasm regarding parenting and marriage, dark truths about mental abuse, and hilarious, poignant storytelling… this is the book for you.

relatable

Funny
loved it
very relatable.
i recommend it to all moms out there.
and dads too

Please Write More!

Love this book, and waiting for your next one. Such good short stories and had me laughing even before I became a mom