There are umpteen parenting books out there. Lots of them are general, trying to cover all the bases. Some of them are specific, focusing on breastfeeding or sleeping. Most of them are earnest and serious.
But there are a handful of parenting books that offer advice couched in humor. A couple of years ago, Stefanie Wilder-Taylor took on infancy with Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay. I never read it (and actually, I'd rather have a nice muscadet than a chardonnay, but I digress) so when Mother Talk offered up a chance to read her toddler years sequel, Naptime Is the New Happy Hour, I raised my hand.
I found it both entertaining and infuriating. Wilder-Taylor makes one too many cracks about her avoidance of the kitchen, and her hope that her child doesn't come to expect a home-cooked meal. Her list of warning signs that your kid is watching too much TV includes "she watches more TV than you do" - which bugged me because honestly, my kid does watch more TV than me, but that's only because I watch none. On the other hand, she nails toddler bathtime ("they act like having their hair washed is against the Geneva Convention"), toddler energy ("the attention span of a house fly, and they're much more destructive") and toddler eating habits ("it's normal for them to go an entire day eating nothing but a peanut M&M they found on the floor of the car"). And she has a wonderful quiz to use to vet potential play-date moms, which start with:
I show up at your door with a bottle of Pinot Grigio. Your response:
a) What kind of a mother are you?
b) Oh, I would never drink this early, but I'll store it for you in my Sub-Zero fridge.
c) Pop that sucker open, bitch.
Naptime Is The New Happy Hour is not the book to turn to for practical advice when the kid is screaming in the middle of the night. Rather, it's imbued with a laissez-faire slacker mom mentality. The message is basically loosen up, have a drink, your kid will be fine. And frankly, that's pretty good advice.
Edited: The random number generator chose FreshHell!
14 comments:
My husband sent me the link for that book today. I was wondering about it. Cute title. Thanks for the review!
Hmm. My kids are too old for me to need or want to read this. And that's just fine by me.
I'm with Slouching Mom, I am beyond that. Now it is more checking kids bags on the way in for the smuggled alcohol.
Well not yet, but soon methinks.
Oh and your badge is up on my sidebar!
My kids are too old for naps as well. However, ANY naptime is the new Happy Hour - even mine!
I could use a funny book on raising teenagers, though, most of them out there are frightening (that goes for books and teenagers....)
I'd LOVE to read it. With one kid slowly fading out of naps and the other surely moving from 2 to 1, I'm desperate to hold onto those last blissful quite moments when I can still actually read!
Count me in for the drawing!
And thanks!!!
And I'm more of a Riesling girl myself. What can I say, I like the sweet stuff.
Though I'm past the toddler stage, I never say no to a free book. Put me in your raffle! I have friends with toddlers so I could give to them (after I've read it!). Also, if you wish to claim your prize for playing my movie meme, send me address via email (I finally added a "contact me" page on my blog).
Hilarious. Of course we did arrange for cocktails in our Nalgene bottles at the pool club one time....
I am the one who needs the naps now.
Stef is a friend of mine, and I'm dying to read the book. Count me into the drawing, dude!
Great review! No need to enter me, I'm reviewing this one, too.
A true keeper brings a screw cap and twirly straws with an ice bucket. : )
oy, mine are 19 and 20. would have done about anything for a good, funny book on raising teens.
Sure, toss my name in the hat. But only because I would join you in being irked. I once wrote a book review in which I talked about the "I'm so cool I barely notice I'm breastfeeding" attitude that some mothers foster.
Foster. This is not the natural, instinctive maternal state.
I'd toss drinking during naptime into that category. It makes the rest of us responsible parents look pedestrian.
Moreover (yes, I like to use words like that), I don't buy it. Hipness requires a lot of artful construction, effort. The hippest, loosest moms I know are the ones whose children wear hemp clothing and only eat organic tofu.
They're as anal and frightened as we are, just don't show it.
Hmmm...I may just want to get a look at that quiz.
speaking of wine in sippy cups... i was at a going away party - FOR ME- where i dropped a glass of wine. the hostess then made me drink my wine from a sippy cup for the rest of the evening,. ;)
Post a Comment