Review: Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal

Well, I finally completed my reading of the new book Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal: Confessions of a Stay-at-Home Dad by Scott Benner, and now it’s my turn to share some thoughts about it.

Simply put, I loved it. It’s one of the best books I’ve had the privilege of reading in quite some time. And if you haven’t read it yet, I encourage you to get your hands on a copy of it soon.

I couldn’t agree more with the title. Given the hell that I’ve been through with my health the last several years, and having watched April’s mom lose her battle with cancer and now watching my aunt fight hers, I most certainly agree that Life Is Short.

And I agree that Laundry Is, without a doubt, Eternal. It’s never finished. There’s always a pile laying around somewhere. If you think dealing with that never ending chore at home is bad, imagine being employed at a dry cleaners as well. While in college, I spent a summer running the cleaning machine at a shop in southern Indiana. So, I speak from experience.

I also digress. Back to the book.

Life Is Short, Laundry Is Eternal is, as Scott says, an “unfiltered account of the moments that shape a family.” He talks openly about how his family came to be and how he came to be a stay-at-home-dad. He shares, in detail, what a “typical” day looks like for him and his family. And much more.

Some of the moments shared in the book are quite humorous, while others, like his daughter’s diagnosis with type 1 diabetes, are heart breaking. At times, it felt as if I were on an emotional roller coaster as I was reading through the book, laughing my ass off one minute and nearly in tears a few minutes later. I didn’t want to put the book down.

Of all the topics covered in the book, it’s Scott’s accounts of life with and without his father that touched me the most. The last of which left me in tears. Be sure to have a box of tissues handy when you read it.

You see, Scott and I were both estranged from our fathers for most of our lives. Scott talks of having the chance to reconnect with his father before he died, and of being in the room when he passed and all of the emotions that accompanied the experience. My father died of a heart attack 7 months before I was diagnosed with congestive heart failure. There was no reconnecting for us, though I later learned from his wife that my father had wanted that to happen. Though I never talk about it, I often think about that and wonder what might have been.

I think that’s what I like the most about this book. That there was an unexpected personal connection and that it stirred so many thoughts and emotions.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, and I’m sure you will too. It’s available on Amazon.