The ParentNormal

Your Home for Close Encounters of the Baby, Toddler & Elementary Kind

Ep. 75 Parenting Fails Vol. IX featuring stories from Pinkalicious author Victoria Kann, Blossom star Jenna von Oy, Baby Einstein creator Julie Clark, City Dads co-founder Matt Schneider and ParentSpeak author Jennifer Lehr

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Fail Vol 9

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This is the second of two parenting fail episodes I’m releasing this week in honor of my new book Perfect Parenting: A Complete History. (Spoiler Alert) There is no history of raising kids perfectly. Thus, every one of my new book’s 40 chapters are empty. It is the parenting book with the fewest words but most important lesson: You aren’t going to be a perfect parent. Get Perfect Parenting: A Complete History now on Amazon for only $5.

Perfect Parenting Cover 500

Since nobody is a perfect parent, I ask every guest on the show if they can share a parenting fail that they can laugh about now. And a common fail I hear is related to the tooth fairy. There are a couple of such stories in this episode, so if you’ve dropped the ball when it comes to your duties as tooth fairy, you are definitely not alone.

Parents featured in this episode include:

Don’t forget to subscribe to the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast on iTunes. You can also follow ParentNormal on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Also Available on Amazon.com: The ParentNormal Crash Course: Everything Traditional Parenting Books Are Afraid to Tell You About Close Encounters of the Baby, Toddler and Third-Year Kind

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Ep. 74 Parenting Fails Vol. VIII featuring stories from Heather Armstrong, Lev Grossman, Josh Temple and Colleen O’Grady

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Fails vol 8

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This week, I’m releasing two editions of parenting fails in honor of my new book Perfect Parenting: A Complete History.

I did the research and (Spoiler Alert) there is no history of raising kids perfectly. Thus, every one of the book’s 40 chapters are empty. It is the parenting book with the fewest words but most important lesson: You aren’t going to be a perfect parent.

If you want lessons on how to be a perfect parent, DON’T buy this book. But if you or a friend needs a funny reminder on your coffee table, nightstand or both that perfect parenting is impossible, this book could be the almost-perfect book for you. At the very least, it will be the easiest book for you to finish reading this year. It’s only $5 right now on Amazon, and again it’s called Perfect Parenting: A Complete History.

Perfect Parenting Cover 500

Now enjoy this episode knowing you aren’t alone in your failures, so you might as well laugh at your circumstances rather than get stressed out to the point of crying.

Parents featured in this episode include:

Don’t forget to subscribe to the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast on iTunes. You can also follow ParentNormal on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Also Available on Amazon.com: The ParentNormal Crash Course: Everything Traditional Parenting Books Are Afraid to Tell You About Close Encounters of the Baby, Toddler and Third-Year Kind

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Ep. 63 Best of the Parenting Fails Part 3 (Top 10 Fails) featuring Jeff Kinney, Dave Barry, Jeannie Gaffigan, Hillary Frank, Adam Mansbach and Michele Lepe

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Best Fails 3 B

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Here are the top ten parenting fails shared on the podcast so far! Two weeks ago, we started the countdown at number 30 and counted down to 21. In last week’s episode, we counted down from 20 to 11. And while all of those stories were great, and I hope you go back and listen to them if you haven’t already, this episode features the best of the best parenting fails shared on the podcast.

I realize that “best” is not really the best word when you’re talking about parenting fails, because one parenting fail isn’t better than another one – which made ranking these stories quite difficult. But I really think you will get something more than just comic relief by listening to these top 10 stories.

The takeaway I hope you get isn’t that mistakes are no big deal. It’s that we all make mistakes, and that there’s no such thing as a perfect parent. And that being the case, it’s much healthier to be able to laugh at yourself than beat yourself up – not to mention much more entertaining.

I’ll continue to ask guests to share parenting fails, but here are the storytellers of the best fails shared on the podcast so far.

10. Kristen Chase, half of the duo from Cool Mom Picks, who were interviewed in episode 45 of the podcast.

9. Greg Pembroke, author of Reasons My Kid is Crying, who was interviewed in episode 4 of the podcast.

8. Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and author of more than 30 books, who was interviewed in episode 51 of the podcast.

7. Hillary Frank, host of the Longest Shortest Time podcast, who was interviewed in episode 18 of the podcast.

6. Deva Dalporto, the YouTube sensation whose videos about parenthood have been downloaded millions of times, who was interviewed in episode 15 of the podcast.

5. Jill Smokler, the mom who created the Scary Mommy website, who was interviewed in episode 21 of the podcast.

4. Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, who was interviewed in episode 53 of the podcast.

3. Adam Mansbach, author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Go the F**k to Sleep and the book You Have to F**king Eat,who was interviewed in episode 33 of the podcast.

2. Jeannie Gaffigan, comedian Jim Gaffigan’s writing partner who also happens to be his wife and was his co-writer on the Jim Gaffigan Show, who was interviewed in episode 38 of the podcast.

1. Michele Lepe, best known as Nina on the Good Night Show on Sprout. It’s not easy to rank parenting fails, but I knew this story would be number one as soon as I decided to do a countdown. I was so grateful when Michele agreed to be my first guest ever on the podcast. It helped launch the show with a great interview and she knocked it out of the park when she shared her parenting fail.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast on iTunes or Sticher if you’re an Android user to hear all of the ‘best of’ episodes and much more of the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast. You can also follow ParentNormal on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Now Available on Amazon.com: The ParentNormal Crash Course: Everything Traditional Parenting Books Are Afraid to Tell You About Close Encounters of the Baby, Toddler and Third-Year Kind

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Ep. 62 Best of the Parenting Fails Part 2 featuring Nick Thune, Ilana Wiles, Greg Page, Nate Bargatze, Amy McCready and more

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Best Fails 2 B

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This is Part Two in the three part series of the best parenting fails shared on the podcast so far. I realize that “best” is not really the best word to use when you’re talking about parenting fails, because one parenting fail isn’t better than another one, but it is fun to do “best of” countdowns. So, the takeaway I hope you get from listening to this series isn’t that mistakes are no big deal. It’s simply that we all make mistakes, and that there’s no such thing as a perfect parent.

Make sure you subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts, so you don’t miss the Top 10 Parenting Fails next week. As for parenting fails 11 through 20, here are the parents who made the list:

20. Amy McCready, the founder of Positive Parenting Solutions and author of The Me, Me, Me Epidemic, who was interviwed in episode 47 of the podcast.

19. Nick Thune, the actor and stand up comedian who has a Netflix special titled Folk Hero and a Seeso special titled Good Guy, who was interviewed in episode 6 of the podcast.

18. Sarah Maizes, Vice President of Children’s Programming for The Jim Henson Company author of Got Milf?: The Modern Mom’s Guide to Feeling Fabulous, Looking Great, and Rocking A Minivan, who was interviewed in episode 41 of the podcast.

17. James Breakwell, the father of four daughters known by his 700,000 followers on Twitter as @xplodingunicorn, who was interviewed in episode 12 of the podcast.

16. Ilana Wiles, the mom behind the Mommy Shorts website and author of The Mommy Shorts Guide to Remarkably Average Parenting, who was interviewed in episode 54 of the podcast.

15. Greg Page, the founding member of the Wiggles also known as the Yellow Wiggle, who was interviewed in episode 8 of the podcast.

14. Nate Bargatze, a comedian who has mutliple stand up comedy specials and has appeared on Conan and the Tonight Show multiple times, who was interviwed in episode 3 of the podcast.

13. Liz Gumbinner, half of the two moms who started Cool Mom Picks and host the Spawned Podcast, who were interviewed in episode 45 of the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast.

12. Jen Mann, author of People I Want to Punch in the Throat, who was interviewed in episode 5 of the podcast.

11. Sarah Turner, author of The Unmumsy Mum, who was interviwed in episode 25 of the podcast.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast on iTunes or Sticher if you’re an Android user to hear all of the ‘best of’ episodes and much more of the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast. You can also follow ParentNormal on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Now Available on Amazon.com: The ParentNormal Crash Course: Everything Traditional Parenting Books Are Afraid to Tell You About Close Encounters of the Baby, Toddler and Third-Year Kind

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

Ep. 61 Best of the Parenting Fails Part 1 featuring Karen Alpert, Rosie Pope, Arianna Huffington, Asha Dornfest, Amy Bellgardt and more

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Best of 1 B

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Parenting fails are a such a big part of this podcast, I thought it would be fun to create a countdown of the best parenting fails shared on the show. Because who doesn’t love a countdown?

Now, obviously, it is really strange to say one parenting fail is better than another. That’s obviously not the case. But there have been some really entertaining stories shared on the show. Of course, like any countdown, there are probably some stories that should have made the list but didn’t. And there are probably some stories ranked too high or too low.

The reality is that all of these stories are great for parents to hear, and the takeaway I hope you get from listening is that we all make mistakes, but it’s better to laugh than get stressed out to the point of crying.

So this is part 1 of 3 episodes counting down the “best” parenting fails shared on the podcast. Parents in Part 1 of the countdown include:

30. Norine Dworkin-McDaniel, one of moms behind the Science of Parenthood book and website, who was interviewed in episode 9 of the podcast.

29. Karen Alpert, the New York Times bestselling author of I Heart My Little A-Holes and I Want My Epidural Back, who was interviewed in episode 31 of the podcast.

28. Rosie Pope, who starred in the Bravo Network’s Reality Show Pregnant in Heels, who was interviewed in episode 30 of the podcast.

27. Mary Elizabeth Williams, author of A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science and Cancer, who was interviewed in episode 35 of the podcast.

26. Brian Gordon, creator of the Fowl Language webcomic, who was interviewed in episode 29 of the podcast.

25. Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor in chief of the Huffington Post, who was interviewed in episode 34 of the podcast.

24. Asha Dornfest, author of Parent Hacks: 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life with Kids, who was interviewed in episode 56 of the podcast.

23. Clint Edwards, author of This is Why We Can’t Have Nice Things, who was inteviewed in episode 10 of the podcast.

22. Amy Bellgardt, the mom who runs Mom Spark, who was interviewed in episode 57 of the podcast.

21. Mike Spohr, editor of BuzzFeed Parents, who was interviewed in episode 36 of the podcast.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast on iTunes or Sticher if you’re an Android user to hear the upcoming ‘best of’ episodes. You can also follow ParentNormal on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

Now Available on Amazon.com: The ParentNormal Crash Course: Everything Traditional Parenting Books Are Afraid to Tell You About Close Encounters of the Baby, Toddler and Third-Year Kind

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: Android | RSS

2 ParentNormal Books Now Available!

The ParentNormal Crash Course is three crash courses of parenting humor in one that feature hilarious parenting warnings about the daily grind of parenthood. Get it now on Amazon.

Perfect Parenting is the parenting book with the fewest words but most important lesson: You aren’t going to be a perfect parent. Get it now on Amazon.

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