Book Review – Naptime is the New Happy Hour
A humorous book on motherhood? Yes, please. After all, even though “it’s the hardest job you’ll ever love”, if we all took motherhood too seriously we would literally tear our hair out, or take the first flight out of town. I’ve seen far too many new mothers hunt for the elusive ideal of motherhood, wherein you ALWAYS feed your child something healthy, NEVER let them watch TV, and OTHERWISE beat your sleep-deprived psyche to a bloody pulp.
Stefanie Wilder-Taylor’s follow-up to Sippy Cups Are Not for Chardonnay, is Naptime is the New Happy Hour – a funny, honest collection of scenes with a toddler. She covers the joys of potty training, choosing a preschool, tantrums, and dealing with those Smug Moms you just want to punch.
Wilder-Taylor is unapologetic about her toddler’s TV habit and cookie consumption, and honestly dishes about her mixed feelings on suburbia. Her book was easy to read, possibly because she’s written down thoughts that I’ve had in my head, but not uttered out loud (or only to close friends), reaffirming that while I love my child completely, I’m not a “bad mother” for occasionally setting my child in front of the TV so I can take a shower or catch up on reading blogs (oops, did I just admit that?).
Her account of flying with her toddler and hating her a little afterwards hit a little close to home, and her chapter on stay-at-home versus work-outside-of-the-home was honest and quite comforting.
She is a little heavy on the joke of medicating herself, with heavy doses of sarcasm, which made me feel occasionally like I was reading the literary equivalent of stand-up comedy, but looking aside that one aspect, I found myself reading it whenever I had little pockets of time.
In the end, life with a toddler is frustrating, rewarding,
and quite frequently funny, if you choose to see it that way. Naptime is the new Happy Hour
definitely captures those funny moments, and in easily digestible bites.
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Comments
Oh, I have to get this! I loved Sippy Cups, so I know I'm going to enjoy this!
we'll see, though. maybe ONE day i'll give it a try... after i finish catching up on comics, that is. :P
thanks for the review :D
But, yes, I think you'd find humor in this book.
I haven't read the Sippy Cups book, but I remember when it came out and some very serious mothers were on TV or something saying, you know, HOW DARE she take motherhood so lightly and OMG her kids are going to be scarred for life, and I was all, dooodz, settle down. U R SRS MAMA--we get it. I don't want to be guilty of reverse smug-ism here, but sometimes I feel sorry for their kids. Life is ridiculous a lot of the time, so you may as well laugh at it, or that's our household philosophy. And toddlers are hilarious. We have a good time.
My kid is hooked on Walking with Dinosaurs on the Discovery Channel and also on the Muppet Show...and I'm still not showered most days.
I am so ashamed.