"The thought of organising yourself to take your children out for the day more than once a week fills you with fear? You've purchased art and craft material but only begrudgingly allowed your children to take it out of the box once? Your idea of roleplay is to stick on a DVD and 'pretend we're at the cinema'? Then please grab yourself a cup of lukewarm tea, pull up any chair that is not covered in toys or mashed banana and realise that you are not alone. I am a slacker mum; I'm out and I'm proud."A humorous and touching collection of stories and short writing covering many aspects of motherhood from birth to the first day at school.Includes the poems: 'Dear Teacher'. 'Nine Months' and 'I was going to be . . .' as well as four new poems such as 'The Mum Olympics' and 'Weaning by Limerick.'The perfect collection for all the mothers who sometimes wonder if they're doing it right.

"Get this for your pregnant friends, or yourself" (People): a hilariously candid account of one woman's quest to bring her post-baby marriage back from the brink, with life-changing, real-world advice. Recommended by Nicole Cliffe in Slate Featured in People Picks A Red Tricycle Best Baby and Toddler Parenting Book of the Year One of Mother magazine's favorite parenting books of the Year How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids tackles the last taboo subject of parenthood: the startling, white-hot fury that new (and not-so-new) mothers often have for their mates. After Jancee Dunn had her baby, she found that she was doing virtually all the household chores, even though she and her husband worked equal hours. She asked herself: How did I become the 'expert' at changing a diaper? Many expectant parents spend weeks researching the best crib or safest car seat, but spend little if any time thinking about the titanic impact the baby will have on their marriage - and the way their marriage will affect their child. Enter Dunn, her well-meaning but blithely unhelpful husband, their daughter, and her boisterous extended family, who show us the ways in which outmoded family patterns and traditions thwart the overworked, overloaded parents of today. On the brink of marital Armageddon, Dunn plunges into the latest relationship research, solicits the counsel of the country's most renowned couples' and sex therapists, canvasses fellow parents, and even consults an FBI hostage negotiator on how to effectively contain an "explosive situation." Instead of having the same fights over and over, Dunn and her husband must figure out a way to resolve their larger issues and fix their family while there is still time. As they discover, adding a demanding new person to your relationship means you have to reevaluate -- and rebuild -- your marriage. In an exhilarating twist, they work together to save the day, happily returning to the kind of peaceful life they previously thought was the sole province of couples without children. Part memoir, part self-help book with actionable and achievable advice, How Not To Hate Your Husband After Kids is an eye-opening look at how the man who got you into this position in this first place is the ally you didn't know you had.

PARENTING NEVER ENDS. From the founders of the #1 site for parents of teens and young adults comes an essential guide for building strong relationships with your teens and preparing them to successfully launch into adulthood The high school and college years: an extended roller coaster of academics, friends, first loves, first break-ups, driver’s ed, jobs, and everything in between. Kids are constantly changing and how we parent them must change, too. But how do we stay close as a family as our lives move apart? Enter the co-founders of Grown and Flown, Lisa Heffernan and Mary Dell Harrington. In the midst of guiding their own kids through this transition, they launched what has become the largest website and online community for parents of fifteen to twenty-five year olds. Now they’ve compiled new takeaways and fresh insights from all that they’ve learned into this handy, must-have guide. Grown and Flown is a one-stop resource for parenting teenagers, leading up to—and through—high school and those first years of independence. It covers everything from the monumental (how to let your kids go) to the mundane (how to shop for a dorm room). Organized by topic—such as academics, anxiety and mental health, college life—it features a combination of stories, advice from professionals, and practical sidebars. Consider this your parenting lifeline: an easy-to-use manual that offers support and perspective. Grown and Flown is required reading for anyone looking to raise an adult with whom you have an enduring, profound connection.

Are you struggling to connect with your child now that they've left the nest? Are you feeling the tension and heartache as your relationship dynamic begins to change? In Doing Life with Your Adult Children, bestselling author and parenting expert Jim Burns provides practical advice and hopeful encouragement for navigating this tough yet rewarding transition. If you've raised a child, you know that parenting doesn't stop when they turn eighteen. In many ways, your relationship gets even more complicated--your heart and your head are as involved as ever, but you can feel things shifting, whether your child lives under your roof or rarely stays in contact. Doing Life with Your Adult Children helps you navigate this rich and challenging season of parenting. Speaking from his own personal and professional experience, Burns offers practical answers to the most common questions he's received over the years, including: My child's choices are breaking my heart--where did I go wrong? Is it OK to give advice to my grown child? What's the difference between enabling and helping? What boundaries should I have if my child moves back home? What do I do when my child doesn't seem to be maturing into adulthood? How do I relate to my grown child's significant other? What does it mean to have healthy financial boundaries? How can I support my grown children when I don't support their values? Including positive principles on bringing kids back to faith, ideas on how to leave a legacy as a grandparent, and encouragement for every changing season, Doing Life with Your Adult Children is a unique book on your changing role in a calling that never ends.

In this psychological thriller set in a southern California gated community, a wife and mother wonders how much she can trust her own family. Jane Harris lives in a sparkling home in an oceanfront gated community in Orange County. It’s a place that seems too beautiful to be touched by sadness. But exactly one year ago, Jane’s oldest daughter, Mary, died in a tragic accident, and Jane has been grief-stricken ever since. Lost in a haze of anti-depressants, she’s barely even left the house. Now that’s all about to change. It’s time for Jane to reclaim her life and her family. Jane’s husband, David, has planned a memorial service for Mary and three days later, their youngest daughter, Betsy, graduates high school. Yet as Jane reemerges into the world, it’s clear her family has changed without her. Her husband has been working long days—and nights—at the office. Her daughter seems distant, even secretive. And her beloved Mary was always such a good girl—dutiful and loving. But does someone know more about Mary, and about her last day, than they’ve revealed? The bonds between mothers and daughters, and husbands and wives should never be broken. But you never know how far someone will go to keep a family together . . . Perfect for fans of B.A. Paris and Shari Lapena. Praise for The Favorite Daughter A PopSugar Best Book of Spring “A chilling glimpse behind the façade of the perfect family.” —Liv Constantine, author of The Last Mrs. Parrish “[An] exceptional psychological thriller. . . . Suspense fans will be amply rewarded.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Diabolical. . . . Delightfully wicked fun.” —Kirkus Reviews “Jane is a character readers will love to hate. Rouda combines domestic suspense with a touch of dark humor for a compulsively readable book set in the mind of a textbook narcissist.” —Bookreporter

A New York Times Notable Book: A luminous, deeply affecting story of divorce, remarriage, and parenthood. Peter and Emma, two single parents who have found love again after failed first marriages, dream of a peaceful and happy blended family with each of their daughters under one roof. They navigate this treacherous territory with the best of intentions, but face resistance from the girls, who, like many children of divorce, find their relationships tinged by grief, anger, and resentment. Emma’s three-year-old daughter, Tess, takes to the arrangement while Amanda, Peter’s sullen and unhappy seven-year-old, views it as a disaster rather than a fresh start. Over the course of this emotional powerhouse of a novel, Amanda becomes increasingly hostile and alienated—until one night she commits an act that threatens the already fragile bonds of the fledgling family. Set on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, This Is My Daughter is a skillful and sensitive portrayal of the challenges facing modern families from master of the contemporary novel Roxana Robinson, whose acute observations of domestic life invite comparison to John Cheever and Henry James.