About the Book

Introducing a book about parenting — not how to parent, but about being a parent.
Everyone sort of knows what parenting is like, but then … we find it hard to say.

Apparently This is what parenting feels like says a lot — about what happens, what kids do, what a parent thinks, and about how it feels. Because it is a lot, for all of us.

Based on thirty years of experiences in raising six children, I share from the heart, and gut, in relatable stories – the meaningful and the ridiculous, snippets of dialogue, vulnerable reflections, hard essays, vignettes that pull at your heart or make you laugh out loud, ‘kid quotes,’ … even some poetry. The result, like parenting, is difficult to describe: part memoir, part advice-column, part essay, part story-time, part pat-on-the-back, and part call to action.

My hope is that, in my recounting, the particular becomes the universal, and you recognize some of the stories as your own.

Dive into a timeline collection of parenting life, from babies and young children, teenagers and adults. Upon discussing older adults the perspective shifts to stories of being the adult child of one’s own aging parents. Journey through titles such as:

• Parent and Child on An Outing … what could go wrong?
• Getting Something Done in the Presence of a Toddler… because, well, you know
• The Secret of Parenting … wait, is it a secret?
• Help That is No Help … but that’s not the point
• How to Avoid Raising An Asshole … because it’s largely avoidable
• Not Cool… crucial consideration for parents of teenagers
• Love, Distanced … loving your teen
• Launch … the oft-untold heartache of parents as children leave the nest
• Mothering … your own mother

I tell my stories so that you feel some of your own. And we all get to think about it. 

Apparently, this is what parenting feels like.