Review: I grew up watching the Cosby Show with my family and loved it. I saw this book on my in-law’s shelf and thought it would be a fun read. It was fun, at times. I learned that I shouldn’t read this book while I was sitting next to my son in bed as he went to sleep, because I would occasionally shake the bed from quiet laughing. Not exactly conducive to the relaxing bedtime atmosphere I was trying to create.

Like Cosby’s stand-up routines, parts of this book were really funny, especially if you pictured Bill Cosby himself delivering the lines. However, overall, this is not a book I would really recommend to someone. While it made me laugh at parts, in my opinion the overall tone was somewhat depressing, as much of the humor came from his learning to accept disappointment.

He seemed greatly disappointed and overly-critical of his son in particular. While I appreciate other parents sharing their embarrassing parenting stories with me and love to commiserate, I feel like generally it still comes across that, above all, we deeply love our children. My kids are young, so maybe I’m just naïve and not jaded enough by parenthood yet, but overall this left me feeling a little sad. I certainly hope this isn’t an accurate depiction of the emotions that come with fatherhood. (Personal Rating: 6/10)

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The post Fatherhood appeared first on ResearchParent.com.

Review: I never watched the show, Mad About You. If Paul Reiser has been in movies, I’ve never seen them. However, his face does look vaguely familiar. I wasn’t sure what to expect from this book, but I really enjoyed it. Paul Reiser seems like a genuinely nice guy. While much of what he writes is funny (some of it even laugh-out-loud so), even better is that what he writes is true.

I feel like he’s accurately captured the full range of emotions of first-time parenthood in a way I haven’t read before. Unlike what I would expect in a book by a celebrity and comedian, his words are full of sincerity. The only reason why I didn’t like this book more is that it is not particularly useful or informative, so reading it seemed more like a guilty pleasure than a productive use of time.

I think it would make an excellent gift for someone pregnant with her second (or third, fourth, etc…) child who already knows all the important stuff and would enjoy being reminded of what she’s about to relive in a pleasant and humorous way. (Personal Rating: 8/10)

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The post Babyhood appeared first on ResearchParent.com.

Review: To me, this book is like a less funny version of Preschool Confidential. It covers a lot of territory, but unless you are having a lot of problems with your one to three year old, it probably won’t be that helpful. If, however, a parent is having a lot of problems, they might find this book reassuring. It definitely makes all the crazy stuff almost all kids do seem entirely normal. However, not to sound stuck up, but I personally haven’t lived through what I would call the terrible twos. Sure, my oldest kid (now three) has his terrible moments, but for the most part, I’m not in need of reassurance. (Personal Rating: 5/10)

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The post The Girlfriends’ Guide to Toddlers appeared first on ResearchParent.com.

Review: This book is hilarious. I checked this book out from my library, not thinking it would be very useful, but wanting something new to read and already having read most of my library’s local selection. While my child is not quite a preschooler, I can definitely relate to a lot of the behavior the author describes.

The book was so funny I marked passages to show my husband, then made the mistake of trying to read them out loud to him. My toddler asked, “Why is mommy crying?” because I was laughing so hard. It took about seventeen tries before I could get the words out without collapsing into a fit of giggles.

The book dates itself at times, but even so, I highly recommend this book to anyone with a young child. I think the author does a public service by improving the sanity of mothers everywhere through turning the trials of everyday life with a preschooler into something to laugh about. (Personal Rating: 9/10)

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