Hold Onto Your Hats

"Hold Onto Your Hats. Sh!ts About To Get Real!" This could quite possibly be the funniest and most accurate quote I've ever read in a parenting book. This quote was suggested as the more helpful comment parents should tell their newly pregnant friends. "The Sh!t No One Tells You: A Guide to Surviving Your Baby's First Year" by Dawn Dais was a random book purchase I made for our trip to Newfoundland, figuring there would be lots of nap times where I could use a good read. Although I originally thought this book would have been a great read before the Turkettes arrived, I realize I likely would not have laughed as much or exclaimed YES! as many times as I did by reading the book after their arrival.

This book caused me to laugh at the parenting firsts we had conquered together and relate to a group of women who survived the same experiences we were living through. I think it's a must-read for first-time moms as her advice and anecdotes provide the encouragement to survive the most empowering and frustrating time of your life. The funny thing is, all the advice in the world can't prepare you for what is going to happen when baby (or in our case babies) arrive. Did I know we would be lacking sleep? Absolutely. Did I realize that the level of sleep deprivation would beyond anything I thought possible? Nope. I felt like a walking zombie for a few months!

What I loved the best about this book was how connected I felt to the author and other moms sharing their stories. Not only could I totally relate to her comments and experiences but on a number of occasions I felt as though she was taking the words right out of my mouth. Some of the chapters that resonated with me include #4 Breastfeeding is Really F'n Hard, #11 Your Life is Officially Over, #17 You'll Never Sleep Again, #21 Teeth Are The Devil. While breastfeeding is over, our old life now redefined and we're experiencing sleep again, we are still battling the Tooth Devil at the moment and I anticipate this Devil will be around for quite some time erasing all memory the lovely Tooth Fairy.

Another aspect of the book that struck me was the support group Dawn created for herself. While she had Chipper Jen as her "go to" mom for advice, I also had a couple Moms that were only a text message away! While the support of your mom is unmatched, it's great to have friends who just recently experienced motherhood that you can text at all hours of the day to ask "What did you do?" when you're at your wits end!!

Now that I have a healthy dose of parenting experience and an ounce of parenting confidence, I have a much better sense of what my friends would appreciate receiving at their baby showers (even if they don't know it yet!) The Sh!t No One Tells You is the book I will give in place of a card to all of my first-time mom friends!