Momma Cusses: A Field Guide to Responsive Parenting & Trying Not to Be the Reason Your Kid Needs Therapy

by Gwenna Laithland

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

A sarcastic and hilarious approach to, as author Gwenna Laithland puts it, responsive parenting. This is a deeply relatable exploration of parenting, brutally honest and holding nothing back. Essentially, the parenting book that so many have been waiting for.

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!

Join the millions of fans who love Momma Cusses, TikTok’s #1 Parenting Unexpert!

There are lots of experts out there who will tell you they have the magic recipe to raising perfect humans. Gwenna Laithland is not one of them. She’s one of us. Frustrated, overwhelmed, and exhausted. Her relatable representation of parenthood validates our experiences. In Momma Cusses, Gwenna uses her signature style of snark and sarcasm to explain her interpretation of responsive parenting vs. reactive parenting and outline the steps she takes to raise her kids. Whether you are a parent or someone who has had a parent, we all need to learn how to handle our emotional spirals responsively.

Now we can all be in it together by tackling some of the hilarious yet all-too-real scenarios Gwenna outlines in her book, including:

YOU WILL LOSE YOUR SH*T:
Mom guilt vs. mom shame

ARE YOU YELLING OR ARE YOU JUST BEING LOUD?:
Get in control of your emotions

THE BIG FEELS LOOP-DE-LOO:
Get in control of their emotions

Accessible, digestible, and rooted in reality, Momma Cusses helps readers with navigating family dynamics and cultivating emotional resilience for everyone.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250882677
Publisher:	St. Martin's Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/05/2024
Sold by:	Macmillan
Format:	eBook
Pages:	256
Sales rank:	365,156
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

GWENNA LAITHLAND was born and raised in Oklahoma. Gwenna got her start as a writer at the age of 18. She branched out into content marketing soon after and has worked with museums, professional sports teams, accounting firms, and universities to help refine their content. She started Momma Cusses in 2019 first as a e-zine and shifting toward a social media focus in 2020. She still lives in Oklahoma with her husband and all three kids.

Editorial Reviews

02/05/2024

Childproof podcaster Laithland aims in her energetic debut to reframe “gentle parenting” as “responsive parenting,” because “putting a diaper on a refuses-to-potty-train toddler while they show you what a crocodile looks like in a death roll” is decidedly not gentle. The pillars of responsive parenting, Laithland explains, are giving children “as much autonomy... as is safe” and teaching them “what they are feeling, that those feelings are okay, and healthy ways to handle those feelings.” Strategies to help children regulate their emotions during tantrums include standard breathing techniques (inhaling, holding one’s breath, and exhaling for four seconds each) as well as sillier suggestions (distracting kids by making “lip farts”). Laithland warns parents that at some point “you will lose your shit on your kids” and suggests that while such outbursts may cause “Mom Guilt” (“that little bit of your brain that remembers every godforsaken mistake you’ve ever made... as a parent”), the feeling should be embraced because it provides motivation to improve one’s parenting. The humor lands and the guidance on setting boundaries, helping children identify their needs, and letting them fail safely is a boon. This will be a balm for weary parents. Agent: Wendy Sherman and Callie Deitrick, Wendy Sherman Assoc. (Mar.)

Publishers Weekly

"The humor lands and the guidance on setting boundaries, helping children identify their needs, and letting them fail safely is a boon. This will be a balm for weary parents." —Publishers Weekly

"Side splittingly funny and relatable. A rollicking read for overwhelmed parents...to learn how to regulate themselves to be responsive, not reactive to their children." —Library Journal, starred

From the Publisher

★ 02/01/2024

TikTok star Laithland brings her signature sense of sarcasm, snark, and humor to this book that she says is not a guide to raising perfect children but about handling situations that many parents find themselves in. Divorced and remarried, she shares ideas for co-parenting when both parties are not on the same page. Many parents will be able to relate to—and maybe feel relieved by—her admission that she too hates playing certain board games with her children. Readers will be comforted by her reminder that they are the expert, despite what others may say or think, on their own child. She uses engaging chapter titles—"Momma Needs a Time-Out," for example—in this hilarious manual that admits repetition is part of parenting and that apologies are essential since parents sometimes react instead of respond. She doesn't shy away from discussing generational trauma; she offers advice on how to patiently parent. There's even a summary at the end of each chapter for readers in a hurry. VERDICT Side-splittingly funny and relatable. A rollicking read for overwhelmed parents who can look past a few swear words to learn how to regulate themselves to be responsive, not reactive, to their children.

Library Journal