Fantastic Book

When I grow up, I want to be Stefanie Wilder-Taylor. I realize that it will be difficult, seeing as she’s at most a few years older than I am and that, despite all my wishing, I am still not able to turn into people way cooler than myself. But I feel like it’s worth a try anyway. Because Stefanie Wilder-Taylor just wrote a book called, Naptime Is the New Happy Hour and I am madly in love with it.

I guess you could call it a parenting advice book, but one written by an actual mother. And not one of those mothers who can breastfeed while staring at the wall because she finds it so satisfying to watch her child suckle that she doesn’t need a book or reality TV to keep herself from crying from the boredom. No, this book is written by a mother who can admit that sometimes parenting small people is bor-ing. And extremely annoying. Wilder-Taylor describes life with a toddler like this:

“If they (the toddlers) filled out a profile on eHarmony.com, you’d never be a match. And if you were accidentally sent on a blind date, chances are you wouldn’t be able to agree on a restaurant, let alone make it through the chicken fingers before you said, “Check, please.” But unlike a blind date, you can’t get a friend to call your cell phone and pretend there’s a family emergency or just do tequila shots to get through it. You’re pretty much stuck with your impulse-control-challenged new partner. The sooner you realize your toddler is not purposely trying to drive you crazy, they’re just being their own person, the happier you’ll be.”

For once, parenting advice that actually speaks to MY previous experiences! Because when I read most parenting books, or talk to most other moms, I get the vibe that these people have NEVER done tequila shots. Even the books that are supposed to be hip, I know that they are not aimed at people like me. They are aimed at people like a former co-worker of mine: For the full year BEFORE she got pregnant, she trained herself to wake up at the same time every day (6am), quit drinking, started following the “Best Odds” diet and created a spreadsheet to compare parenting philosophies. I, however, was enjoying the opportunity to sleep late and eat ice cream for dinner right up until I gave birth. Between the book and the great interview at Mommybloggers, I’m pretty sure Stefanie is more my kind of person.

Her book is divided into three sections: Your New and Improved But Strangely Less Exciting Life, The Culture of Toddler and Who Are You. The chapters cover everything from childhood illness, mind-numbing playdates, soul-killing tantrums and the urban-legends of parenting (frequent sex, for example). Wilder-Taylor manages to cover all the important parenting basics with half the pages and twice the snarkiness of the the average parenting book.

Naptime Is the New Happy Hour is also part memoir of life with a toddler. And as most of us know, life with a toddler can be pretty damn funny (after the fact, of course). Wilder-Taylor’s stories are super damn funny and easy to relate to.  If you’ve ever wanted to smack a pediatrician or a smug mom at the playground, this book is for you. And until your book arrives, you can check out Stefanie’s blog, Baby on Bored.

This review brought to you by Mothertalk.