The Sh!t No One Tells You: A Guide To Surviving Your Baby's First Year (2013) - Plot & Excerpts
I really wanted to love this book. There are some great laugh-out-loud moments and the author is extremely honest about her feelings. However, it's way too negative for my taste. I'm a positive, optimistic type that believes that any problem has a solution and I wished the author could provide at least a little insight on how to solve the problems you may face with an infant. It didn't.I have to agree with a lot of the other reviewers and say that the title is misleading. I have been told most of these things over and over again from the time my sisters and friends started having children. There isn't anything new and it is very depressing to read. I have such a completely different outlook on life in general that I didn't connect with the author at all. Yes, your baby will cry. Yes, your baby will spit up and poop. Yes, you will deal with lots of sleepless nights. However, at the end of it all, you have a child you are responsible for. Being resentful for the things you missed out on or the fact that you can't sleep 12 hours a day (the author herself said she used to sleep 12 hours a day which I think is a huge waste of your life) doesn't make for a happy family.I'm 11 weeks pregnant and I can't wait for all the challenges my newborn will bring. It may be the most difficult thing I ever have to do, but I know I will love every second of it. Not because I'm delusional. Not because I secretly think it's easy. It's just how I approach things in life...with a positive attitude. I think women would learn more from someone who coaches getting through it all with dignity and optimism than from someone who sounds like they regret ever giving birth at all.In short, don't waste your time. Complaining never made anything better and this book of complaints will just fill you with dread and fear. It's not worth it. I received this book at a baby shower from a friend. I thought it was a funny title and it definitely made me want to read the book. It was a very quick and fast read (don't let the started and finished on the same day fool you....I didn't update when I started reading the book). The author writes from her own personal experience but also incorporates the experiences of friends of hers, also mothers. This helps to show that every experience with children and being a mother is different. As an adoptive mother, many of the chapters about the birthing experience, breastfeeding (our son came home at just over 1 month old and already on formula so we chose not to change that), etc. did not apply to me. However, the chapters about changing diapers, sleep deprivation, etc. were really funny, I mean they had me laughing out loud almost hysterically. My husband even gave me some funny looks one night as I was reading the book and laughing so hard at what I had just read. A great shower present for friends or relatives that are going to have a baby.
What do You think about The Sh!t No One Tells You: A Guide To Surviving Your Baby's First Year (2013)?
Some stuff was intuitive, but it helped to have it crystalized.
—lilimarin
Some funny relief, but nothing earth shattering.
—Veena
