Book Review: Oh Crap! I Have a Toddler!

I want to start by saying this is definitely a parenting book, not a therapy book. However, I do a lot of Early Intervention therapy. This means that I am often providing "parenting" strategies and resources to the family, as it is a family based program. When parents are reporting intense behaviors, it's hard for them to implement speech therapy strategies. We often need to work through difficult behaviors so the child is an a "ready to learn" state. I have found that if I can read a few parenting books a year - and hold on to some of the most useful tidbits from each one - I can give parents lots of different tools for their toolbox. And "Oh Crap! I have a Toddler!" by Jamie Glowacki definitely added several great tools to my toolbox! 

First of all, this author is super refreshing. She writes in such a fun way, like you're having a conversation with your best friend. BUT, the book is filled with profanity. So if that bothers you, you might want to skip this book. I honestly think I would have a hard time recommending it to parents simply because I feel it would make me look unprofessional. 

I love the way the author looks at the family as a whole. She encourages parents' self care, which I feels is so important. Even when she is giving advice, she acknowledges some of the challenges to implementing the strategies. 

I think one of the most important things she talks about is sleep. Sleep is when your body restores itself and establishes new connections in the brain. If your child is not sleeping well, they are not going to be able to learn as easily. I love that the author hits on how important good sleep is for everyone. No one is talking about good sleep habits and why it is important with my Early Intervention families. No one is helping these families work through their sleep difficulties and find something that works for THE ENTIRE FAMILY. While she did not dive into sleep strategies, she did give me some good language to use while trying to talk with my families about this in a respectful way. 

Part of working with kids in the Early Intervention program is working with their families. Sometimes you are working against generational parenting struggles. The author talks about "reactionary parenting," "parental anxiety," and breaking bad cycles. I never want to criticize one of my families' parenting because we are all just out here doing our best. And I am sure a parenting expert would have some constructive criticism for me, too. But I think being able to talk with families about this stuff in a respectful way may lead them to do some reflection on their own parenting - and how to improve. 

The bulk of the book talks about various behaviors and what we can do to work through them. I love the way she highlights what CAUSES "bad" behavior. I think so often parents label their kids as "bad" without really seeing WHY they are doing what they are doing. The author gives some reasons (acting out feelings, testing boundaries, curiosity, not being challenged, etc) and what the behavior that corresponds to those reasons might look like. It made it very easy to analyze your child's own behavior within her descriptions. From there, you can easily look for a strategy that might work. 

Overall, I think it's a great book. And I think you can use a lot of the strategies listed in speech therapy. I also love the way that she puts a "real life" spin on things. So many parenting books are great in theory, but impossible to actually implement in real life. But not this one. However, I would hesitate to have it in my personal lending library for families due to the unprofessional nature. It's a great one for the therapist to read and then re-word in a more professional manner to parents!