How parenting became a verb, from Dr. Spock and June Cleaver to baby whispering and free-range kids. When did “parenting” become a verb? Why is it so hard to parent, and so rife with the possibility of failure? Sitcom families of the past—the Cleavers, the Bradys, the Conners—didn’t seem to lose any sleep about their parenting methods. Today, parents are likely to be up late, doomscrolling on parenting websites. In Long Days, Short Years, Andrew Bomback—physician, writer, and father of three young children—looks at why it can be so much fun to be a parent but, at the same time, so frustrating and difficult to parent. It’s not a “how to” book (although Bomback has read plenty of these) but a “how come” book, investigating the emergence of an immersive, all-in approach to raising children that has made parenting a competitive (and often not very enjoyable) sport. Drawing on parenting books, mommy blogs, and historical accounts of parental duties as well as novels, films, podcasts, television shows, and his own experiences as a parent, Bomback charts the cultural history of parenting as a skill to be mastered, from the laid-back Dr. Spock’s 1950s childcare bible—in some years outsold only by the actual Bible—to the more rigid training schedules of Babywise. Along the way, he considers the high costs of commercialized parenting (from the babymoon on), the pressure on mothers to have it all (and do it all), scripted parenting as laid out in How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, parenting during a pandemic, and much more.

How parenting became a verb, from Dr. Spock and June Cleaver to baby whispering and free-range kids. When did “parenting” become a verb? Why is it so hard to parent, and so rife with the possibility of failure? Sitcom families of the past—the Cleavers, the Bradys, the Conners—didn’t seem to lose any sleep about their parenting methods. Today, parents are likely to be up late, doomscrolling on parenting websites. In Long Days, Short Years, Andrew Bomback—physician, writer, and father of three young children—looks at why it can be so much fun to be a parent but, at the same time, so frustrating and difficult to parent. It’s not a “how to” book (although Bomback has read plenty of these) but a “how come” book, investigating the emergence of an immersive, all-in approach to raising children that has made parenting a competitive (and often not very enjoyable) sport. Drawing on parenting books, mommy blogs, and historical accounts of parental duties as well as novels, films, podcasts, television shows, and his own experiences as a parent, Bomback charts the cultural history of parenting as a skill to be mastered, from the laid-back Dr. Spock’s 1950s childcare bible—in some years outsold only by the actual Bible—to the more rigid training schedules of Babywise. Along the way, he considers the high costs of commercialized parenting (from the babymoon on), the pressure on mothers to have it all (and do it all), scripted parenting as laid out in How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, parenting during a pandemic, and much more.

Blink and they'll be grown. As new parents, the words of older, wiser parents don't make a bit of sense. Blink and they'll be grown? We blinked and three toilet paper rolls disappeared down the flusher, and now there's sewage water flooding the bathroom. We blinked and three pounds of apples mysteriously disappeared, and no one's responsible. We blinked and someone drew hieroglyphics all over the living room wall with a permanent marker. We blinked and...oh. They're grown. Examining the phenomenon of one day that can last sixty-seven hours and one year passing in the blink of an eye, Rachel once again opens up the doors to her home and her family and shares what it means to parent growing and changing children. With the wit and hilarity readers have come to expect, she examines the laughable challenges facing parents at practically every turn of a kid's life; highlights rites of passage like The Funk and a parent's fall from "The Cool Club"; and details the many different personalities kids assume in their day-to-day, year-to-year lives-from listening personalities to sleeping personalities. But every essay collected within these pages keeps its eye on a sometimes subtle, sometimes overt truth: one day, sooner than we can even imagine, they'll grow up. The Days Are Long, But the Years Are Short includes humorous essays like: The Speaking Personalities of Children How to Misuse LEGOs: a Generous Guide How to Leave the House With Kids: a 5-Step, Foolproof Plan The Subjectively Fun Games Boys Play The Never-Ending Nuances of Rule-Making for Kids Sometimes I Want to Change My Name Co-Parenting: a Tale of Inconsistency and Chaos The Day I Stopped Eating Food Where Kids Could See It and many more. Hailed as "The Erma Bombeck of a new parenting generation," Rachel's sixth full-length book of humor essays is, at its heart, a celebration of the madness that is parenting-every moment that drags on and on and on, every year that flies away faster than a kid who knows he's in trouble. Rachel is the wife of one man and the mother of six sons who daily give her inspiration for comical essays. Her work can often be found on Huff Post Parents, Scary Mommy, Babble, Motherly, and Today's Parent. She lives with all her males in San Antonio, Texas.

On a short winter day, Samuel and his father enter into a series of trades with neighbors and strangers until they come home with a brown-eyed milk cow for Mama.

No Regrets Parenting is a book for busy parents in our busy times. Juggling family and professional lives is not a course taught in high school or college--many parents find the challenges of being all things to all people daunting. This theme is ubiquitous in today's culture--movies, theatre, books, magazine features, and human interest news stories all find the challenge of raising children to be prime fodder for audiences. How to do it all? How to stay sane while trying to do it all? No Regrets Parenting teaches parents how to experience the joy and depth of the parenting experience amidst the chaos and choreography of daily routines. Car pool, bath time, soccer practice, homework, dinner hour, and sleepovers all become more than just obligations and hurdles to overcome to get through the day. They are opportunities for intimate and meaningful time--quality time--with young kids. It's not how much time you have with your kids, but how you spend that time that matters in the life and legacy of a young family. No Regrets Parenting readjusts parents' perspectives and priorities, helping them find the time to do it all and feel good about your kids' childhood. There is a simple, single truth for every parent. Your kids need you to be there. They need to see who you are and how you live your life. And, in return, they will help you to see who you are and how you should be living your life. For all of that to happen, parents need time with their kids. Memorable and meaningful time. No Regrets Parenting is about time. Finding enough of it and making the most of it.

"How parenting has, over the last half century, emerged as a pervasive verb that invokes extremes of joy, guilt, pride, anxiety, and responsibility"--

Over a decade ago, a landmark ten-year study by the MacArthur Foundation shattered the stereotypes of aging as a process of slow, genetically determined decline. Researchers found that that 70 percent of physical aging, and about 50 percent of mental aging, is determined by lifestyle, the choices we make every day. That means that if we optimize our lifestyles, we can live longer and “die shorter”—compress the decline period into the very end of a fulfilling, active old age. Dr. Roger Landry and his colleagues have spent years bringing the MacArthur Study’s findings to life with a program called Masterpiece Living. In Live Long, Die Short, Landry shares the incredible story of that program and lays out a path for anyone, at any point in life, who wants to achieve authentic health and empower themselves to age in a better way. Writing in a friendly, conversational tone, Dr. Landry encourages you to take a “Lifestyle Inventory” to assess where your health stands now and then leads you through his “Ten Tips,” for successful aging, each of which is backed by the latest research, real-life stories, and the insights Landry—a former Air Force surgeon and current preventive medicine physician—has gained in his years of experience. The result is a guide that will reshape your conception of what it means to grow old and equip you with the tools you need to lead a long, healthy, happy life.