Title: When Did I Get Like This?: The Screamer, the Worrier, the Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget-Buyer, and Other Mothers I Swore I’d Never Be
Author: Amy Wilson
Publisher: Harper Paperbacks
Publication Date: April 19, 2011
Paperback: 272 pages
ISBN: 978-0061963964
Genre: Memoir, Humor
What kind of mother feeds her kids dinosaur chicken nuggets . . . three times a week? What kind of mother lets hand washing slide after using the toilet, as long as it was just Number One?
When Did I Get Like This?
My Review:
When Did I Get Like This by Amy Wilson is a charmingly funny, witty and honest look at parenting, especially during the times when it is not going as smoothly as either parent or child wishes. I enjoyed Wilson’s candid stories, her sense of humor and the universality of parental problems and concerns. When Did I Get Like This is a quick read, which is perfect for any busy mum of young children, however I no longer have young children and while the book made me smile at some fond memories, I am no longer at this stage in my life. Although not having the lifestyle of the writer, I was never truly at the stages she writes about. I tried to think back to when I was mothering three children, my oldest being two, and struggling to make ends meet. I do not think this book would have cheered me up or made me feel better as a mum, considering my life, at that time, was one of intense frugality rather than one spent in high end boutiques. With that said, as a mum in a very different stage of life and parenting adult and near-adult children, I was able to find the book a light read which brought back some rather fond memories. At the time, I am certain I was frustrated, but looking back well over a decade later, all memories with my children are fond ones. I do not believe I was the targeted audience for this book. I read When Did I Get Like This as part of a tour and I have included a link further down in my post to other reviews, have a look at them, as I think this book will strike parents in different ways, especially depending where you fall in the age spectrum.
Amy Wilson is the author and performer of the one-woman show Mother Load, which started off-Broadway, and has been touring the country ever since. She made her Broadway debut in the Tony-Award-winning play The Last Night of Ballyhoo, and has appeared in dozens of other plays in New York City. On television, she was a series regular on Norm and Daddio, and appeared on Felicity, Ed, Law and Order: Criminal Intent, Deadline, Boston Common, and All My Children. Her film credits include Kinsey, Kissing Jessica Stein, Keeping the Faith, and Ira and Abby.
Her writing appears regularly in Babytalk magazine, on parenting.com, and on CNN.com’s “Living” page. Her favorite productions are her three young children, whom she raises with her husband in New York City.
Further information about author Summer Wood may be found on her website, Facebook, and Twitter.
For more reviews of the book, please follow the book tour.
I received a copy of When Did I Get Like This? by Amy Wilson from TLC Book Tours to be a part of this tour and offer my honest review of the book. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of aforementioned book.
This book looks like it is right up my alley. I am currently “in the thick of it” with a 2 year old and a 3 year old. I love a book that can make me laugh at my life because while it is amazing and lovely and I wouldn’t trade it for the world, it can at times (as you know)be frustrating!
Yes, I imagine you are quite busy as I recall being and it is a rather witty look at parenting.
I think I could relate to some of the things in the book. I can remember doing things with my son that I swore I would never ever do.
I definitely could relate to many of the parenting issues, especially doing things I said I never would do. It is a witty book and a quick read.
I know what you mean about needing to read a book at the right time to really appreciate it. Although I’m more on the frugal part of the spectrum than the author, I think this sounds like a fun read for someone like me who still has a young child at home.
Thanks for being a part of the tour!
I enjoyed it, but right now my life is so focused on paying for my son’s college, it did not have the effect it might have 15 years ago.