Gummi Bears Should Not Be Organic

Book 38 of my 2016 Reading Challenge
read from April 15 - 18

Gummi Bears Should Not Be Organic and Other Opinions I Can't Back Up With Facts by Stefanie Wilder-Taylor

Summary (via the book jacket)
In Stefanie's house, children watch TV, no one is handcuffed to the piano, and kale is a four-letter word. From the moment life first drops us Hunger Games-style into parenthood with just a naked, crying stranger and Google for company, we're taunted with scary studies and impassioned opinions about how to do it perfectly. You're going to need a friend, preferably one who understands when you need to break Saturday night plans in order to watch reality television and eat cereal. Luckily, Stefanie's in the market for a new MFF: Mom Friend Forever.
In hysterical, empathetic essays, the host of NickMom's Parental Discretion confronts all the neuroses-inducing notions head-on. From the fixation with gifted programs (you know, Ted Kaczynski was a prodigy too), to the tyranny of the family dinner (do you really want to eat chicken nuggets at 5 p.m. when you could be eating Thai and watching Mad Men while the kids are asleep?), to the obsession with making our kids share (hey, would you like it if your coworker "borrowed" your car?), Stefanie hilariously reveals her glorious golden rule of parenting: whatever works. Her advice? Trust your own instincts when it comes to your kid because nobody else knows what the hell they're talking about anyway.

My Opinion
I don't have a lot to say about this book.  In a way, it reminded me of eating gummi bears -- good in small doses but not overly filling.  All in all, a fine way to spend a little time while waiting to pick up kids or "supervising" them at the playground.

One thing that I made a note to tell my husband...when she said her "being upset is like Ambien" to her husband because of his ability to go to sleep directly after (or even during) an argument.  That inexplicable reaction happens around here too and it drives me crazy!

I also liked her one-liner about bacteria spreading "faster than Jennifer Aniston pregnancy rumors".

A Few Quotes from the Book
"...a glorious new parenting style emerged. Actually it's more of a parenting nonstyle - a "whatever works" approach. It's a perfect cocktail made from a blend of one part neurosis and two parts "this is my eighth kid"."

"Here's something people should have told us about kids before we had them: you have to feed them, like, almost every day. It's seriously oppressive. And figuring out which foods are healthy yet easy to prepare, but that your kids will actually eat, is one of the biggest hurdles in parenting. Well, that and getting through and entire episode of Caillou."