Meredith Masony

While I was not familiar with author Meredith Masony before picking this one up, I quickly went down the rabbit hole of her Facebook page, Inappropriate Thoughts on Motherhood...and knew immediately that this book was for me.

After parenting for more than a decade I have learned a few things, and the biggest one is that parenting doesn't exactly get easier. I hung tightly to the fact that it had to get easier for the first few years of parenting in the trenches. Between the lack of sleep, toddler meltdowns and just wanting to be able to shower alone, I clung to the idea that it would only get easier, it had to right?!

Shortly after our oldest child entered elementary school (whew, one down, one to go!) the reality hit me, hard. This was a whole new stage of parenting that was just as complex, if not more so than the stage before it. While the physical challenges do subside the emotional ones increase twofold...and we are only entering the pre-teen years right now...

One success is then followed by a new challenge so while you master one thing, you are a rookie once again with something else. And while this might sound negative I don't mean it to be that way. For me, it was actually a big relief...It wasn't just us that it still seemed hard for, it is just that it is! Parenthood is filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and everything in between.

The thing that has saved me as I have navigating parenthood (and heck, adulthood!) is the sense of community and always knowing I am never alone. There is nothing better than having friends you can laugh with and also cry with. While we might not experience the same exact issues, we understand that life contains a myriad of joys and heartbreaks for all of us.

This book felt just like a conversation with a good friend. Masony shares authentic commentary on motherhood, marriage, aging, and friendship mixed with laugh out loud humor and the relatability of someone who doesn't have it all figured out either. She also highlights the delicate balance of feeling your feelings while also taking an active role in figuring out what brings you happiness...

While I could take a highlighter to almost every page in this book, I especially connected with her chapters, Real Friends Are The Best Friends and Who Knew Motherhood Could Be So Lonely. and It's Just A Phase...Son of A Bitch...The Whole Thing Is A String of Phases! This book is for anyone who knows that that parenting is hard no matter how you swing it, connections come through authenticity and life is better when we accept that no matter how it looks through a filter, NO ONE really knows what they are doing.

Thank you to Gallery Books and author Meredith Masony for a gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. As always, all thoughts are my own. You can read this and other book reviews at genthebookworm.com… (mais)

While I was not familiar with author Meredith Masony before picking this one up, I quickly went down the rabbit hole of her Facebook page, Inappropriate Thoughts on Motherhood...and knew immediately that this book was for me.

After parenting for more than a decade I have learned a few things, and the biggest one is that parenting doesn't exactly get easier. I hung tightly to the fact that it had to get easier for the first few years of parenting in the trenches. Between the lack of sleep, toddler meltdowns and just wanting to be able to shower alone, I clung to the idea that it would only get easier, it had to right?!

Shortly after our oldest child entered elementary school (whew, one down, one to go!) the reality hit me, hard. This was a whole new stage of parenting that was just as complex, if not more so than the stage before it. While the physical challenges do subside the emotional ones increase twofold...and we are only entering the pre-teen years right now...

One success is then followed by a new challenge so while you master one thing, you are a rookie once again with something else. And while this might sound negative I don't mean it to be that way. For me, it was actually a big relief...It wasn't just us that it still seemed hard for, it is just that it is! Parenthood is filled with the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, and everything in between.

The thing that has saved me as I have navigating parenthood (and heck, adulthood!) is the sense of community and always knowing I am never alone. There is nothing better than having friends you can laugh with and also cry with. While we might not experience the same exact issues, we understand that life contains a myriad of joys and heartbreaks for all of us.

This book felt just like a conversation with a good friend. Masony shares authentic commentary on motherhood, marriage, aging, and friendship mixed with laugh out loud humor and the relatability of someone who doesn't have it all figured out either. She also highlights the delicate balance of feeling your feelings while also taking an active role in figuring out what brings you happiness...

While I could take a highlighter to almost every page in this book, I especially connected with her chapters, Real Friends Are The Best Friends and Who Knew Motherhood Could Be So Lonely. and It's Just A Phase...Son of A Bitch...The Whole Thing Is A String of Phases! This book is for anyone who knows that that parenting is hard no matter how you swing it, connections come through authenticity and life is better when we accept that no matter how it looks through a filter, NO ONE really knows what they are doing.

Thank you to Gallery Books and author Meredith Masony for a gifted copy of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. As always, all thoughts are my own.… (mais)