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Catastrophic Happiness: Finding Joy in Childhood's Messy Years
A comic and heartwarming memoir about childhood's second act from Real Simple journalist Catherine Newman.
Much is written about a child's infancy and toddler years, which is good since children will never remember it themselves. It is ages 4-14 that make up the second act, as Catherine Newman puts it in this delightfully candid, outlandishly funny new memoir about the years that "your children will remember as childhood."
Following Newman's son and daughter as they blossom from preschoolers into teenagers, Catastrophic Happiness is about the bittersweet joy of raising children -- and the ever-evolving landscape of issues parents traverse. In a laugh out-loud, heart-wrenching, relatable voice, Newman narrates events as momentous as grief and as quietly moving as the moonlit face of a sleeping child.
From tantrums and friendship to fear and even sex, Newman's fresh take will appeal to any parent riding this same roller coaster of laughter and heartbreak.
Much is written about a child's infancy and toddler years, which is good since children will never remember it themselves. It is ages 4-14 that make up the second act, as Catherine Newman puts it in this delightfully candid, outlandishly funny new memoir about the years that "your children will remember as childhood."
Following Newman's son and daughter as they blossom from preschoolers into teenagers, Catastrophic Happiness is about the bittersweet joy of raising children -- and the ever-evolving landscape of issues parents traverse. In a laugh out-loud, heart-wrenching, relatable voice, Newman narrates events as momentous as grief and as quietly moving as the moonlit face of a sleeping child.
From tantrums and friendship to fear and even sex, Newman's fresh take will appeal to any parent riding this same roller coaster of laughter and heartbreak.
224 pages, Hardcover
First published April 5, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 163 reviews
February 23, 2016
“Babycenter?,” I said to my friend Miriam, probably with the look on my face my mom calls looking like I smell, um, excrement. “You want me to read something on Babycenter?”
“You’ll like Catherine Newman,” Miriam said. “She reminds me of you.”
And I do like Catherine Newman. Since I started reading her regular column about being a parent on Babycenter, she’s written a book as well as essays that show up all over the place, and she’s moved to her own blog. Her two kids are right about the same ages as mine and she’s got just the irreverent but warm sense of humor I like most. She’s a passionate home cook, too, the kind of person who, like me, not only makes her own granola but glories in making it (even though neither of us would ever consider ourselves “granola”). Her blog used to be stories about parenting with little asides about cooking, and now it's more of a cooking blog that includes little stories about parenting-- because as kids get older, they don't necessarily want all their business broadcast in a blog.
But this book is mostly reflections on being a parent and being part of a family, particularly on the joys of it. I get a little jealous of her that her kids seem so much nicer than mine, but really-- how entertaining would it be to have her bitch about her kids? I'm not even entertained by my own bitching about my kids.
And this book is entertaining. The first chapter had me laughing until I got tears in my eyes over her daughter, Birdie, having a toddler fit about her own fingers being non-detachable. Newman writes especially well about gender. Her son, who is 15, has long, flowing hair and loves to wear the color pink. This can cause some problems in public bathrooms. Her daughter, who is 12, is a bit fierce, and is not addicted, like so many women (including Catherine Newman. And me) to pleasing everyone around her. Being agreeable. Being liked. Some of the best writing in this book is a consideration of how and why people hold on so hard to traditional gender roles and why we need to let them go, especially where our own kids are concerned.
This book seems a little slight at first-- it's more of a series of appreciations than a story about anything happening. But if you have kids in your house, it will make you laugh-- a lot-- and I think also that it will make you feel more present, make you stop spacing out long enough to love what you have. At least for a while, until the bickering starts up again.
Note: I work for a library, so was able to download a digital ARC of this book, but that has no bearing on my review.
“You’ll like Catherine Newman,” Miriam said. “She reminds me of you.”
And I do like Catherine Newman. Since I started reading her regular column about being a parent on Babycenter, she’s written a book as well as essays that show up all over the place, and she’s moved to her own blog. Her two kids are right about the same ages as mine and she’s got just the irreverent but warm sense of humor I like most. She’s a passionate home cook, too, the kind of person who, like me, not only makes her own granola but glories in making it (even though neither of us would ever consider ourselves “granola”). Her blog used to be stories about parenting with little asides about cooking, and now it's more of a cooking blog that includes little stories about parenting-- because as kids get older, they don't necessarily want all their business broadcast in a blog.
But this book is mostly reflections on being a parent and being part of a family, particularly on the joys of it. I get a little jealous of her that her kids seem so much nicer than mine, but really-- how entertaining would it be to have her bitch about her kids? I'm not even entertained by my own bitching about my kids.
And this book is entertaining. The first chapter had me laughing until I got tears in my eyes over her daughter, Birdie, having a toddler fit about her own fingers being non-detachable. Newman writes especially well about gender. Her son, who is 15, has long, flowing hair and loves to wear the color pink. This can cause some problems in public bathrooms. Her daughter, who is 12, is a bit fierce, and is not addicted, like so many women (including Catherine Newman. And me) to pleasing everyone around her. Being agreeable. Being liked. Some of the best writing in this book is a consideration of how and why people hold on so hard to traditional gender roles and why we need to let them go, especially where our own kids are concerned.
This book seems a little slight at first-- it's more of a series of appreciations than a story about anything happening. But if you have kids in your house, it will make you laugh-- a lot-- and I think also that it will make you feel more present, make you stop spacing out long enough to love what you have. At least for a while, until the bickering starts up again.
Note: I work for a library, so was able to download a digital ARC of this book, but that has no bearing on my review.
April 29, 2016
I have never wished so hard to be actual friends with an author I was reading as I have with Catherine Newman. I'm convinced we'd be best pals if we could only meet. Her writing style, her pop culture references, the stories she tells about her children and their misadventures, her ability to instantly see the worst case scenario in any situation: these all point to our complete compatibility as bff's.
Ms. Newman? I'm your number one fan!
Ahem, back to less stalker-esque things.
I absolutely adored Ms. Newman's first memoir/book of essays. But this second one? I love it even more. Perhaps it's because the author (and myself) are in a much more gentle time period of parenting- past the poopy diapers and sleepless nights but not yet into the dating, driving, and college admission years. I'm truly finding it to be the Golden Age of Motherhood and reading about Ms. Newman's experiences only reiterates how much I'm enjoying this time of my life.
If you like good writing, humorous parenting essays, and insights into mothering, this book will be right up your alley.
Ms. Newman? I'm your number one fan!
Ahem, back to less stalker-esque things.
I absolutely adored Ms. Newman's first memoir/book of essays. But this second one? I love it even more. Perhaps it's because the author (and myself) are in a much more gentle time period of parenting- past the poopy diapers and sleepless nights but not yet into the dating, driving, and college admission years. I'm truly finding it to be the Golden Age of Motherhood and reading about Ms. Newman's experiences only reiterates how much I'm enjoying this time of my life.
If you like good writing, humorous parenting essays, and insights into mothering, this book will be right up your alley.
April 10, 2016
Loved this book a lot, of course. Catherine Newman is one of my favorite writers. The only reason for the 4 stars vs. 5 is that so much of the material in this book has been published before as articles and essays elsewhere. And being a big fan, of course I've already read it in those other places! I've been waiting with baited breath for this book because I expected it to be all - or at least mostly - new material. That being said, I'm never sorry to revisit any sentence crafted by Catherine Newman. She is a gifted writer, a true talent.
October 1, 2022
This is a re-read for me and this time the book found me at *just* the right time. It captures so perfectly how hard and demanding the years with young kids are, especially with toddlers, but also how sweet, magical, and fleeting. These reflections will stay with me.
January 17, 2024
I love everything Catherine Newman writes. Big fan. As someone in the thick of “childhood’s messy years” this book hit me in the feels and resonated in so many ways. Some of the essays felt like she was narrating my own life. I laughed, I cried, I laughed some more.
December 6, 2022
I really enjoyed this memoir on motherhood. It’s told over the years as the author’s kids grow up and what she learns. She talks about how the little years are hard and it gets better which is what I need to hear.
September 1, 2023
I absolutely loved this parenting memoir. I was already a fan of Catherine Newman's writing (in blogs and magazines), so I was thrilled to finally read one of her books. This one is a collection of essays that proceed chronologically throughout selected years in the young lives of her children. Mostly I'd recommend this to parents of kids out of the baby stage, with it being especially applicable to the young kid to tween set. She writes with such thoughtfulness and honesty interlaced with humor. She's just my perfect style of writing and there were so many amazing nuggets about parenthood here that I will definitely be flipping back to.
March 15, 2023
LOVED this! As in, if you were here in front of me, I would *gush* about this book to you. Newman’s writing acknowledges just how hard the early years of parenting are, while also shining a warm, glowy light on them. She captures the joy, the fear, and the humour of being a parent perfectly; I found her stories so relatable. If you’re a parent, read this! (I listened and it's read by Newman, which made it all the more enjoyable.)
February 8, 2019
I enjoyed this book! There were laugh-out-loud funny parts, and it was very relatable. My own children, a girl and a boy, are three years apart like the author’s. It was also a good reminder to slow down and enjoy these moments with our kids, a sentiment we hear often as parents, but still need reminding of often.
February 21, 2020
Newman handles with humour and grace the divine bittersweet experience of raising children with the knowledge that they grow up to be their own selves, and all the unique fears and joys that come for the ride.
March 2, 2018
Catherine Newman has been my parenting soothsayer for more than a decade, and this collection of essays portends the wild, delicious Big Kid years I have ahead with my son.
(An aside: Newman and I were once at a holiday party together for a publication we both worked on. I embarassingly fangirled over her, hard, and mustered the courage to say hello. I asked her whether it ever got old to have a harem of childbearing women wanting to hang on her every word.
"It's not like they're trying to sleep with me," she'd said.
Bazinga.)
(An aside: Newman and I were once at a holiday party together for a publication we both worked on. I embarassingly fangirled over her, hard, and mustered the courage to say hello. I asked her whether it ever got old to have a harem of childbearing women wanting to hang on her every word.
"It's not like they're trying to sleep with me," she'd said.
Bazinga.)
February 9, 2023
Just re-read this and it’s as comforting, funny and relatable as it was when I read it after it first came out.
February 25, 2017
I loved this book. The author's sense of humor and no-holds-barred honesty are refreshing, insightful, and heart-warming. This is a mom I'd like to hang out with. 4.5 stars.
August 30, 2020
It’s odd to give a somewhat neutral rating to someone whose writing I so deeply admire. Moreover: I am exactly the target audience for this book - a mother with two young children, afraid their childhoods are slipping by without proper attention, raising them with my somewhat bemused husband in our small liberal bubble. Her sentences are more eloquent and incisive versions of my own thoughts - “I live in anticipation of my own broken heart.” In many ways, her writing reminds me of Marjorie Williams’s - insightful, feminist, carefully articulated. This is high praise in my mind - a Woman at the Washington Zoo is the book to which I can always and forever turn and find new wisdom.
However, there was something about this work that didn’t quite land for me. The organization of chapters - I wanted to love but I couldn’t follow it. The somewhat self-congratulatory muses on parenting (in one chapter, she cuts away from the discussion of language to make sure you know she knows how the word Eskimo is inherently racist and how she turned that into a learning opportunity for her kids ). Even the reflections on her kind, generous, thoughtful kids - while I can relate (I’m biased!) - I wanted a hint of real, too. Not every weekend is a gorgeous hike to a snake nursery or a happy ending out of an MRI. As Newman can deftly show, there is beauty and meaning in those sharper edges. I wish she had spent more time on those.
However: I will still and always read anything Newman writes about the catastrophic, heart-rending and ripping happiness that is parenting.
However, there was something about this work that didn’t quite land for me. The organization of chapters - I wanted to love but I couldn’t follow it. The somewhat self-congratulatory muses on parenting (in one chapter, she cuts away from the discussion of language to make sure you know she knows how the word Eskimo is inherently racist and how she turned that into a learning opportunity for her kids ). Even the reflections on her kind, generous, thoughtful kids - while I can relate (I’m biased!) - I wanted a hint of real, too. Not every weekend is a gorgeous hike to a snake nursery or a happy ending out of an MRI. As Newman can deftly show, there is beauty and meaning in those sharper edges. I wish she had spent more time on those.
However: I will still and always read anything Newman writes about the catastrophic, heart-rending and ripping happiness that is parenting.
July 14, 2016
"I had not pictured being an adult as the crazy derangement of joy and sadness that it is turning out to be."
There's at least one quotation I'd like to highlight in just about every essay in here, but that one above has kind of been the theme of my week. I see so much of myself in the more than half crazed, lovesick, adventure-seeking, safety-obsessed, joy-drunk, lucky/cursed, Olympic-level worrying mother that appears here. She makes me feel better about being that way, and not just because she provides some company. How could I not like the book?
I suppose I can understand other readers' complaints that this book has writing that has already been published elsewhere, because we all want more of what she has to say. But I like having it collected in one spot, and I like reading again what I read and loved before, and I appreciate that this crazy world may yet contain (among its many mysteries) people who have not ready any of Catherine Newman's writing, and I don't grudge them the pleasure of finding it here.
There's at least one quotation I'd like to highlight in just about every essay in here, but that one above has kind of been the theme of my week. I see so much of myself in the more than half crazed, lovesick, adventure-seeking, safety-obsessed, joy-drunk, lucky/cursed, Olympic-level worrying mother that appears here. She makes me feel better about being that way, and not just because she provides some company. How could I not like the book?
I suppose I can understand other readers' complaints that this book has writing that has already been published elsewhere, because we all want more of what she has to say. But I like having it collected in one spot, and I like reading again what I read and loved before, and I appreciate that this crazy world may yet contain (among its many mysteries) people who have not ready any of Catherine Newman's writing, and I don't grudge them the pleasure of finding it here.
January 18, 2019
This is such a sweet look at parenting through various ages and stages. It's clear that Newman absolutely adores her children and her life. She admits she's incredibly blessed and has a life that is, on the whole, amazingly good. And perhaps that's why the essays felt a little dull to me. So much happiness, so much love, so much... routine, normal, parenting stuff.
I was expecting more practical advice, perhaps, about how to hold on to your identity while raising small children. I really enjoyed the prologue and epilogue, with their "it gets better" themes, but I wanted more of that. More recognition that "this sh*t is hard, yo!" and that it's perfectly okay to both want to hold them forever and run away to Fiji.
I also found some of the essays repetitive. At one point they all started to echo one another. Which wasn't terrible, but it added to the overall unremarkable impression I had of the book as a whole.
I was expecting more practical advice, perhaps, about how to hold on to your identity while raising small children. I really enjoyed the prologue and epilogue, with their "it gets better" themes, but I wanted more of that. More recognition that "this sh*t is hard, yo!" and that it's perfectly okay to both want to hold them forever and run away to Fiji.
I also found some of the essays repetitive. At one point they all started to echo one another. Which wasn't terrible, but it added to the overall unremarkable impression I had of the book as a whole.
May 4, 2016
I have long admired the profound and yet wholly irreverent wisdom of Catherine Newman. Her writing is at once clever, hilarious, self-deprecating, fierce, opinionated, wry, and deep.
Now you can read all of her insights in this remarkable collection of essays. When Catherine's son Ben turns 12 at the end, it’s a triumph and a turning point. He has grown up from this spunky wise toddler to the brink of teenagehood. This must be the toughest part of parenting: the inevitable letting go. She crystallizes and brings all the joy and loss of parenthood to light. Yet her sunny funny demeanor belies this truth-seeking strength and heartbreaking ache to her work. I am forever grateful that her thoughtful stories have helped me get through the ups and downs of parenting my own daughter. I can’t wait to read her novel!
Now you can read all of her insights in this remarkable collection of essays. When Catherine's son Ben turns 12 at the end, it’s a triumph and a turning point. He has grown up from this spunky wise toddler to the brink of teenagehood. This must be the toughest part of parenting: the inevitable letting go. She crystallizes and brings all the joy and loss of parenthood to light. Yet her sunny funny demeanor belies this truth-seeking strength and heartbreaking ache to her work. I am forever grateful that her thoughtful stories have helped me get through the ups and downs of parenting my own daughter. I can’t wait to read her novel!
April 10, 2016
If you’re a fan of Catherine Newman, you’ll recognize portions of some of these essays; it’s like running into unexpected friends at a party in a great new restaurant. For those of us who already love her work, and for those lucky enough to be discovering her for the first time, this book is wonderful, hitting just the right balance between poignant (“The parent I want to be floats in and out of my life, and some days it speaks through me, and other days I lunge after it like it’s a shaft of sunlight I want to capture.” ) and funny (“I have always loved the camping, but now I look back and feel like maybe it kind of used to suck.”) Now I would like her to write and publish a book about parenting teens and also, perhaps, caring for aging parents, IMMEDIATELY so I know how to handle it all with as much grace and humor as she does.
May 15, 2019
A collection of essays reflecting on the fears, challenges, and joys of parenting from birth to age 12. The author is funny, but sometimes a bit too saccharine for me. But she did have some beautiful reflections:
--"The parent I want to be floats in and out of my life, and some days it speaks through me, and other days I lunge after it like it's a shaft of sunlight I want to capture." (p 66)
-"Life isn't about avoiding trouble, is it? It's about being present, even through the hard stuff, so you don't miss the very thing you're trying so hard not to lose. I understand all at once the title of a Zen book I haven't even read: Full Catastrophe Living. That's what I'm doing. It's the full catastrophe, and I'm in it, and if I wait for it to be over, well, it will be over." (p 135)
--"The parent I want to be floats in and out of my life, and some days it speaks through me, and other days I lunge after it like it's a shaft of sunlight I want to capture." (p 66)
-"Life isn't about avoiding trouble, is it? It's about being present, even through the hard stuff, so you don't miss the very thing you're trying so hard not to lose. I understand all at once the title of a Zen book I haven't even read: Full Catastrophe Living. That's what I'm doing. It's the full catastrophe, and I'm in it, and if I wait for it to be over, well, it will be over." (p 135)
March 9, 2018
I can't remember the last time I saw reflected in a book something I needed so badly. As I move from a mom of babies to what comes next, I feel a little adrift. I vaguely remember people feeling this way after weddings although I never did. If I am not and never again will be constantly nursing, what am I? Newman was right there, from the first page, exactly in my head but also just ahead, telling me all of the things I needed to hear at the exact moment I needed to hear them. "I'm trying to believe that I won't be punished for my happiness - that we aren't jinxed by the very fact of our healthy, joyful lives." Such a serendipitous read, a true balm for my soul.
April 7, 2016
I've been reading Catherine Newman's column since I discovered it on Babycenter, back when I actually had babies. I've never read anyone who so perfectly and comically captures the joys, frustrations, anxieties and sheer oddities of parenthood. Some of her columns have stuck with me for more than a decade, and were such a comfort when my kids were small and I was sure I was doing everything wrong. Even though my kids are teenagers now, this book was a joy to read, start to finish. I hope it propels her to the household name status she deserves.
June 27, 2016
I ADORED parts of this book, and others didn't really grab me. Catherine Newman is excellent in writing short essays/blog posts about raising her children, who both seem to be adorable little people. I couldn't quite get into her first book about pregnancy and babies, but this one was a great summer read. (And big hugs to whoever helped her divide the content up into nice, short chunks. That was my main complaint about Waiting for Birdy.)
August 5, 2016
This book is just what I needed right now: a humorous and heartwarming glimpse into a hopefully-not-quite-as-chaotic future. I love the writing style, and this book, for me, is just the right mix of humor, perceptiveness about some serious topics, and sentimentality. Now I have to figure out how to be half as good of a parent as Newman appears to be.
May 15, 2016
Please can I give this 20 stars? Catherine Newman has a way of writing the things that you didn't know were so, so true until she put them into words. I'm so glad she's still writing. I've been missing her since Bringing up Ben and Birdy.
May 14, 2016
I can't often say this truthfully, but I did laugh and cry when reading this lovely book. A wonderful set of essays about parenthood and childhood.
November 27, 2016
Another hit by Catherine Newman-reading her books is like reuniting with a long-lost best friend. So hilarious and beautiful. Can't recommend her books highly enough.
March 3, 2017
She's a good writer. But I really never engaged. I found myself scanning a lot. And I just felt impatient with it. If it hadn't been a shortish book, I wouldn't have finished it.
December 25, 2022
"Happiness is so precarious. The babies arrived here suddenly, and I assume the snatching away of them could be just as abrupt."
"Second kids blossom and spread inside that airy absence of scrutiny, while first kids are so often sweltering inside a kind of worried parental greenhouse where they get clipped into odd, neurotic topiary children."
"our worries about the future can make us corrupt the present where our kids are actually living now."
"The most dangerous people we know are the least able to sit still, to be inside an absence of motion. They are the most inclined to leave their families, to be addicts, to keep the TV on twenty-four hours a day, to kill themselves. To manage boredom quietly? That’s one of life’s great skills: to allow its nothingness to resolve into wonder, imagination, illumination, or mindfulness, like a blurry picture that focuses suddenly into beauty. It’s a kind of inoculation against the dangerous kind of restlessness."
"Ben grimaces if you ask whether he pictures a partner and kids in his future. “Oh, god, no,” he says. 'I’m just going to live in an RV in your driveway and run my little sandwich restaurant.'”
"Why even bother teaching them the values of sharing and cooperation when our national ethos is the hoarding of food and medicine, land and resources, like the good capitalists that we are? Maybe we’re just helping them get all that pesky sharing out of the way so it doesn’t burden them later, when they’re clambering over one another toward the teetering heights of personal wealth."
"Foraging gives shape and meaning to what is otherwise a weirdly pointless desire to walk nowhere and walk back. Foraging is like a plain old walk crossed with an Easter egg hunt crossed with a fine-dining experience. Crossed, of course, with the possibility of being fatally poisoned."
"Stirring them at the stove makes me too pleased with myself. I know that. I’m this kind of mother, I think happily, and then immediately flush with shame over my own vanity and falseness, given that I am also the kind of mother who lathers up her hair with one hand so that she doesn’t have to put her beer down in the shower."
"You shove it out your vagina or they yank it from your abdomen—whatever. With absolute newborn perfection in my arms, with the fear of losing him still so fresh, the particulars of his escape hatch had come to matter not at all."
"I had not pictured being an adult as the crazy derangement of joy and sadness that it’s turning out to be."
"Second kids blossom and spread inside that airy absence of scrutiny, while first kids are so often sweltering inside a kind of worried parental greenhouse where they get clipped into odd, neurotic topiary children."
"our worries about the future can make us corrupt the present where our kids are actually living now."
"The most dangerous people we know are the least able to sit still, to be inside an absence of motion. They are the most inclined to leave their families, to be addicts, to keep the TV on twenty-four hours a day, to kill themselves. To manage boredom quietly? That’s one of life’s great skills: to allow its nothingness to resolve into wonder, imagination, illumination, or mindfulness, like a blurry picture that focuses suddenly into beauty. It’s a kind of inoculation against the dangerous kind of restlessness."
"Ben grimaces if you ask whether he pictures a partner and kids in his future. “Oh, god, no,” he says. 'I’m just going to live in an RV in your driveway and run my little sandwich restaurant.'”
"Why even bother teaching them the values of sharing and cooperation when our national ethos is the hoarding of food and medicine, land and resources, like the good capitalists that we are? Maybe we’re just helping them get all that pesky sharing out of the way so it doesn’t burden them later, when they’re clambering over one another toward the teetering heights of personal wealth."
"Foraging gives shape and meaning to what is otherwise a weirdly pointless desire to walk nowhere and walk back. Foraging is like a plain old walk crossed with an Easter egg hunt crossed with a fine-dining experience. Crossed, of course, with the possibility of being fatally poisoned."
"Stirring them at the stove makes me too pleased with myself. I know that. I’m this kind of mother, I think happily, and then immediately flush with shame over my own vanity and falseness, given that I am also the kind of mother who lathers up her hair with one hand so that she doesn’t have to put her beer down in the shower."
"You shove it out your vagina or they yank it from your abdomen—whatever. With absolute newborn perfection in my arms, with the fear of losing him still so fresh, the particulars of his escape hatch had come to matter not at all."
"I had not pictured being an adult as the crazy derangement of joy and sadness that it’s turning out to be."
October 20, 2024
I read this on audio and have mixed (mostly negative) feelings about it. She’s a pretty good writer and really funny… but I didn’t like it nearly as much as I did her other book Waiting for Birdie.
One thing that annoys me in particular is her parenting style. I realize we all do things differently but I couldn’t stand hearing about all these liberal agendas… this book was way too political when I expected it to be just a funny parenting memoir. Plus it’s obscene! There are words mentioned in this book I wouldn’t want my young children to hear (especially over and over and over again). Really?!
She’s also very rambly and difficult to follow at some points. She just goes off on tangents about random topics and I’m again confused about why a subject like that is in a parenting memoir. …Snakes?!
On the other hand, other parts are just so overly emotional and sentimental almost to the point of depression. Some of these things I just don’t think about on purpose because I want to be a happy person. If you want a manual on how not to parent, I guess you could read this book.
Now I’m reconsidering reading Sandwich which did sound promising.
Anyways in theory it’s a cute idea for a book but I could barely get through this one. It’s past the point of us having different viewpoints because of the inappropriateness and offensiveness. 👎
One thing that annoys me in particular is her parenting style. I realize we all do things differently but I couldn’t stand hearing about all these liberal agendas… this book was way too political when I expected it to be just a funny parenting memoir. Plus it’s obscene! There are words mentioned in this book I wouldn’t want my young children to hear (especially over and over and over again). Really?!
She’s also very rambly and difficult to follow at some points. She just goes off on tangents about random topics and I’m again confused about why a subject like that is in a parenting memoir. …Snakes?!
On the other hand, other parts are just so overly emotional and sentimental almost to the point of depression. Some of these things I just don’t think about on purpose because I want to be a happy person. If you want a manual on how not to parent, I guess you could read this book.
Now I’m reconsidering reading Sandwich which did sound promising.
Anyways in theory it’s a cute idea for a book but I could barely get through this one. It’s past the point of us having different viewpoints because of the inappropriateness and offensiveness. 👎
Read
March 29, 2023While I think all new parents should be given a copy of the spot-on introduction, my experience with the essays was varied.
Likely in part because having gone through the experience (x3) myself, I wasn’t so interested in reading about it. Likely also because I would have done better to read it a chapter a day rather than all at once on the day it was due back to the library. In part, also, because the essays often link a chain of thoughts and relationships which I didn’t always follow.
Regardless, there was a lot to enjoy. There were parts that made me laugh, feel nostalgic, or nod in agreement. I, too, want my original vagina back but enjoy the seemingly random dinner conversations that happen with kids. I, too, am happy to be done with arguments over teeth brushing order but miss lopsided smiles with baby, missing, and adult teeth. I, too, have zoned out during endless narratives by little kids who grew into big kids who only occasionally open the door to their thoughts.
There are parts that don’t resonate with me, but that’s to be expected. The experience of parenting and building a family is simultaneously universal and individual.
Likely in part because having gone through the experience (x3) myself, I wasn’t so interested in reading about it. Likely also because I would have done better to read it a chapter a day rather than all at once on the day it was due back to the library. In part, also, because the essays often link a chain of thoughts and relationships which I didn’t always follow.
Regardless, there was a lot to enjoy. There were parts that made me laugh, feel nostalgic, or nod in agreement. I, too, want my original vagina back but enjoy the seemingly random dinner conversations that happen with kids. I, too, am happy to be done with arguments over teeth brushing order but miss lopsided smiles with baby, missing, and adult teeth. I, too, have zoned out during endless narratives by little kids who grew into big kids who only occasionally open the door to their thoughts.
There are parts that don’t resonate with me, but that’s to be expected. The experience of parenting and building a family is simultaneously universal and individual.
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