“Lays out a plan for parents to enjoy themselves and not be slaves to their children while still offering their kids a warm, nurturing environment.” —Publishers Weekly Parents were here first! How did the kids suddenly take control? Sure the world has changed from the days when children were supposed to be seen and not heard but things have gotten a little out of hand. What about some quality time for the grownups? Author Christie Mellor’s hilarious, personal, refreshing, and actually quite useful advice delightfully rights the balance between parent and child. In dozens of short, wickedly funny chapters, she skewers today’s parental absurdities and reminds us how to make child-rearing a kick. With recipes, helpful hints, and illustrations, this high-spirited book is the only book parents will really need—and enjoy. Includes chapters on: Screaming: Is It Necessary? Bedtime: Is Five-Thirty Too Early? Child Labor: Not Just for the Third World! “Children’s Music”: Why? . . . and much, much more “Harried mothers who have given over their lives to their adorable little angels, beware: This book is the equivalent of a cocktail in the face . . . The book details the glories of saying no to your children, explains when you’ve gone too far in childproofing your home, laments our over-reliance on camcorders (‘a disease’) and suggests that the Tooth Fairy is getting robbed. Best of all, there’s a recipe for teaching your tot how to mix a simple martini just the way you like it—with lots of alcohol.” —Chicago Sun-Times

The author of The Three-Martini Playdate “delivers another clever, tongue-in-cheek self-help . . . Laughs and lessons for the beleaguered mom and dad” (Publishers Weekly). Chill the glasses! Christie Mellor is back with more irreverent and useful advice about life with children. Wickedly funny essays offer helpful advice on harnessing the energy of toddlers-gone-wild: on vacation, out to dinner, even just when grandmother stops by for a visit. Parents will relearn the art of traveling, socializing, and eating out like adults . . . sometimes with well-behaved children in tow. In dozens of short, kicky chapters like Cocktail Parties: Actually for Grown-ups! and The Theme Park Vacation: A Last Resort, Christie Mellor gently reminds parents that family vacations can truly be fun. Praise for The Three-Martini Playdate “Harried mothers who have given over their lives to their adorable little angels, beware: This book is the equivalent of a cocktail in the face . . . The book details the glories of saying no to your children, explains when you’ve gone too far in childproofing your home, laments our over-reliance on camcorders (‘a disease’) and suggests that the Tooth Fairy is getting robbed. Best of all, there’s a recipe for teaching your tot how to mix a simple martini just the way you like it—with lots of alcohol.” —Chicago Sun-Times

Christie Mellor describes the new-found freedoms to be had when your adult children move out.

“Amy Wilson’s hilarious, tender memoir…had me laughing out loud with recognition. She captures the small moments of motherhood in a way that is both funny and thought-provoking.” —Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project From the creator and star of the one-woman off-Broadway show Mother Load, comes When Did I Get Like This?, a screamingly funny take on being a modern woman, wife, and mother told with “a level of hilarity that even non-moms can appreciate” (Time Out). Amy Wilson’s poignant and provocative, utterly outrageous look at “the Screamer, the Worrier, the Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget-Buyer, and Other Mothers I Swore I’d Never Be” has already earned an appreciative response from Three-Martini Playdate author Christie Mellor, who calls it, “As entertaining as it is reassuring.”

In Mom: An Owner's Manual, you'll find everything you ever wanted to know about how to raise a perfect Mom.

Christie Mellor, the bestselling author of The Three-Martini Playdate and Raised by Wolves, says You Look Fine, Really—and offers a droll, get-real guide to embracing and enjoying the adventure of mid-life. Complete with grooming shortcuts, tips on being your own personal trainer, and perfect party recipes, You Look Fine, Really provides witty and wise advice on how to add a sense of play and celebration to the everyday.

Hello, boys and girls, and welcome to the wonderful world of words! You've learned the basics—from apple to zebra—but what about all those mysterious new terms you've heard the grown-ups whispering when you were supposed to be tucked up snugly in bed? What makes Mommy so bitter? Where does Daddy conceal the door to his secret S&M dungeon? And why is everyone laughing about Grandma's latest delusion? My First Dictionary answers these questions, and includes many other useful definitions, such as: A burden is a source of worry or stress. Old people are usually burdens. Father is nostalgic. He is remembering the happier times before you were born. A puppy is a young dog. Connie gets a puppy every time she agrees not to tell. Daddy calls them hush puppies. A zigzag is a jagged line. We can tell that Mother has been drinking when she drives in a zigzag pattern. Carry a copy of My First Dictionary in your schoolbag and you'll never be at a loss for words again!

Pre-partum Depression Rule #1: Never Wear an Empire-Waisted Dress to a Baby Shower If you've been asked the question "When are you going to have a baby?" so many times that you feel as though your uterus is starring in a new reality TV show, this hilarious, insightful book is for you. Carrie Friedman shares her daily struggles with what she calls her "pre-partum depression"—from baby lust to panic, and everything in between. Fending off the "dreaded question" from everyone, including her yoga teacher, and navigating the minefield of toddler birthday parties, as well as creating her own faux baby registry under an assumed name, Carrie Friedman captures the process of deciding to have a baby with humor and smarts. If you're looking for refuge from prying questions, pet substitution, and the call of your biological clock, this book is a hilarious diversion." --Adrianne Frost, I Hate Other People's Kids "An absolute delight!" --Jamie Cat Callan, French Women Don't Sleep Alone

While Laura Ingraham was walking through a Northern Virginia shopping mall one Saturday afternoon, it all became clear to her. Everywhere she turned, she saw signs of the impending disaster: zombie teens texting each other across a café table; a man having his eyebrows threaded at a kiosk; a fiftyish woman shoe-horned into a tube top and skinny jeans; and a storefront ad featuring a Victoria’s Secret model spilling out of her push-up bra and into the faces of young passersby. Ingraham wondered to herself, “Is this it? Is this what our forefathers fought for? What my parents struggled for? I wonder if Victoria’s Secret is still having that two-for-one sale?” A menacing force surrounds us. We see it, we feel it, we know it. The country we love is in grave peril. While politicians and “experts” prattle on about the debt crisis at home, and terrorism abroad, a more insidious homegrown threat is emerging. It endangers our future and undermines our present. The uncomfortable truth is: We have become our own worst enemy. The culture we have created is now turning on us. We’re on the verge of drowning in our ignorance, arrogance, gluttony . . . can you believe there are only three shots of vanilla in a Caramel Macchiato?!? Now in an act of patriotic intervention the most-listened-to woman in talk radio casts her satirical eye upon all that ails American society. In this sharp-witted, comic romp, Laura Ingraham takes you on a guided tour through ten levels of our cultural hell. You know we’re in trouble when . . . • Airplane seats shrink—just as the passengers expand. • Celebrity baby names go from the peculiar (Apple, Stetson, and Daisy Boo) to the pathetic (Bamboo, Blanket, and Bronx). • People meticulously tend their virtual crops on Farmville, while their children eat takeout. • “Breaking News” usually means it happened yesterday. • The weddings last longer than the marriages. • Facebook has become a verb and reading has become an ancient art form. Of Thee I Zing is cultural commentary too funny to ignore, igniting a national conversation long past due. America, your cultural recovery begins here.

A breakthrough recovery plan for women who struggle with alcoholism, based on a groundbreaking new model Tens of millions of women today drink to excess and their numbers are growing. Now Dr. Kitty Harris, an experienced counselor and therapist who is herself a recovering alcoholic with more than thirty years of sobriety, presents a new model for recovery that focuses on treating the pain in women's lives that can lead to a vicious cycle of addiction?not on the shame that fuels it. Combining her personal and professional experience, Dr. Harris offers tools that can help women who want to recover as well as friends or family members who are seeking help for a loved one. Focuses on dealing with the pain associated with alcoholism in women, not reinforcing the shame Discusses the different types of female drinking habits, including binge drinking and drunkorexia Takes a plain-language, jargon-free approach that is easy to understand and shares the stories of recovering women of all ages and from all walks of life Is written by Dr. Kitty Harris, Director of The Center for the Study of Addiction and Recovery at Texas Tech University, with twenty-five years of private clinical experience working with adults and adolescents