Things They Didn't Tell You About Parenting

By Penny Webb

You know the drill. You fall pregnant. There is joy and happiness. There is morning sickness and nibbling on ginger biscuits to help you get through the train ride to work without throwing up in your handbag.

There are the pregnancy books and magazines. The parenting books and magazines. And before you know it, you are an ‘expert’ on birth plans, umbilical cords and pelvic floors. You happily recite to your girlfriends about how you’ll breeze back to work ninety minutes after giving birth, or at least check your emails because the hospital has Wi-Fi.

You will knowledgeably spout like a fountain all you know about understanding what babies cries mean, self-settling, attachment parenting, breastfeeding – hell; you’ll even know what a perineum is after all this!

And your mother will sit quietly sipping her tea, wondering if there was an eBook she could send you the link to and suggest you buy.

Well, now there is. It’s called Things They Didn’t Tell You About Parenting. And, for just $4.99, it will tell you ALL the things nobody told you about parenting.

Thirty two amazing parents who write (or are they writers who parent?) have created an anthology of truth, searing honesty, raw facts and emotional testament to the reality of parenthood.

My own journey was littered with pre-eclampsia (me), jaundice and reflux (baby #1), severe back pain (me again), eczema and asthma (baby #2) and a serious lack of sleep all round – including our neighbour who moved house three months after our first son was born because of the noise!

A corporate career running events worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, flying interstate and overseas in fancy-pants stilettos came to a grinding halt. That lifestyle was swapped for nappies, cardigans and ugg boots.

I wasn’t told that the best job in the world would be the hardest.

I wasn’t told that my business card with that impressive title inked there for all to see would mean squat when I had been awake with a newborn until 4am.

And I wasn’t told that I would struggle one day and high five myself the next because I’d managed to wash my hair and get out of my pyjamas before 3pm
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I wasn’t told……..

So now we’re telling you. It’s real. It’s raw. And it’s rejuvenating. Not necessarily in that order, though.

You can find out more about Things They Didn’t Tell You About Parenting and buy a copy for $4.99 at http://thingstheydidnttellyou.com. All money raised from the book goes to the incredible Foundation 18 (http://foundation18.org), to help support orphaned girls in Indonesia. Penny Webb is a contributor to the book. She blogs at http://sshhmummysonthephone.blogspot.com.au/.