Modern Mamma Marvels

I was sent Naptime Is the New Happy Hour and Other Ways Toddlers Turn Your Life Upside Down by Stephanie Wilder-Taylor to review. I laughed when I saw the title of this book. While I don’t imbibe while my toddler is napping, mainly because most types of alcohol (except the uber-expensive ones) gives me hives, toddlers sure do turn your world upside down. There’s no two ways around it. Everything you thought you knew about parenting in the first year is suddenly erase when your child hits the independent toddler years. If you were a smug, know-it-all Mommy (like I was) at your child’s first birthday party, you are soon to be smacked square in the face with reality. Trust me.

And that’s what this book is about.

It’s not a parenting “how-to” book. There are enough of those collecting dust on our shelves already. (What? Don’t lie.)  Instead, this book was written to make you laugh and to simultaneously let you know that you’re not the only mother on the planet wondering if your child is eating enough leafy green stuff or being bored to tears during playdate “chatter” with other moms you are forced to be friends with because of the month and year your children were born.

I did appreciate the chapter about preschool as well. I’ve been sitting in silent panic about the fact that BigBrother isn’t on any list yet. As, really, I didn’t expect that he’d be potty-trained before his twelfth birthday, I didn’t figure it was an option for us. The author hit on every last one of the thoughts I’ve had and she assured me that they’re all bunk. Well, most of them. The kid will learn to read. He’ll go to a fine preschool. And someday he’ll get into college whether or not he goes to the best, most expensive preschool on the planet. Well, he might. There are no guarantees, of course.

Some of my favorite parts included a run down of children’s television shows (though we do watch Thomas up in here because, hey, British accents can be sexy and did you know that Pierce Brosnan is doing the voice in the upcoming feature length film? YEAH!), the New Mommy Math to help you decipher how much television your Mommy Friend’s kids are really watching, and stories about how hard it is to make and keep Mommy friends. We deal with television issues in this household. You know. Turn off the television and all heck breaks loose? But it’s not like I can send the kid outside into a blizzard and, really, I can only do SO MANY CRAFTS, OKAY? This Mom-Author let me know, in no uncertain terms, that I’m not alone. I also enjoyed the digs the author made on Moms that seem to have it all together. Because, dang, I don’t have anything together and it made me feel human to know that I’m not the only one. (If you have it all together and you’re reading this, I am sticking my tongue out at you.)

And while I thoroughly enjoyed this book to the point that I choked on my own spit while laughing, I do feel I need to offer up a warning to the readers of my blog. The language is not all exactly clean. Yes, the book is meant for adults and not your child. But some of the language choices made me, a grown adult who has been known to throw down a cuss word or twelve, squirm in my seat. I can deal with variations of darn and poop but the author took it too far for my personal liking a few times. I wouldn’t feel right suggesting that my Mother or Grandmother read this book nor would I offer it to any of my friends from church. Then again, from her dig at born-again Christians, I don’t suppose the author included all of us in the demographic for this book but, here I am, reading it. As I’ve been firm about my blog being family-friendly, I wouldn’t feel right not letting my readers know about the language. Perhaps that makes me an uncool Mama. But hey, I’ve never been cool. Trust me. Do you want to see my freshman high school yearbook picture? Ouch.

Aside from the language issues, I needed to laugh like this. I needed to be reminded that I’m not alone in these toddler wars. We’re currently in the middle of potty training woes and the chapter offered some hope on the horizon as well as some perspective. Perspective is a good thing as is laughter. If you want a laugh, consider picking up the book. If you need to know you’re not alone, this is for you. It’s a quick read at 208 funny pages.

Let me know if you read it!