Not all parents have help in the home. As a solo parent I would’ve appreciated more tips for someone like me. Overall the book was filled with great information presented in an entertaining and relatable way!

The premise of the book is great and the author really delivers. Great read. Highly recommended. .

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I usually stay away from any books titled self-help or parenting. I dont' need anything or anyone else to make me feel like a bad parent, that's for sure. haha.. but this book didn't make me feel bad about myself or my parenting at all. It was actually quite informative and helpful.

I'll definitely be looking out for other work by this author.

Just okay. Much of the advice has been in the parenting books I've previously read. I love the title and cover. A good summary overall of the importance of self-care, and making time for your friends, hobbies, and other areas while being a good mother at the same time. I do feel like it was targeted to a specific group of woman who have extra money to spend to make these things happen. Overall an okay read.

The title of this book suggests that at the end, you will walk away with some concrete ideas on how to make time for yourself as a parent. In reality, the book repeats much of the same information found in a variety of other books, and ultimately will not solve your time crunch problem. At least it didn't for me. Nearly all of the references she made in the book (and there were many!) were ones I recognized and knew, but for someone new to the genre of modern parenting, this might be a good starting place. The suggestions are also wildly indicative of the author's position in society, and while she very briefly addresses this in the beginning, I think more could have been said to clarify this. Frankly, there are already more than enough books addressing the well-to-do parent's woes. There isn't enough new information or insight in this one to make it a worthwhile read, unless, like I said, you're new to this.

I loved this book about the importance of free time for parents, and enjoying leisure. As a parent of a newborn and toddler, feeling "lost" or "unlike myself" is a very real difficulty - but this book was encouraging and easy to read on practical ways to find time for ourselves. The author was personable and practical - with a good mix of humour and seriousness. Great read for new moms and moms of young kids!

I really hoped to glean something useful from this book. But, instead I got another book written by an upper middle class white person telling me that I need to make more time for myself by spending money (babysitters, expensive exercise classes, vacations without children). I didn't find anything I having already been pummeled with by other upper middle class white authors and "time management specialists" like Laura Vanderkam.

(Free ARC provided by NetGalley, but the opinions are solely my own).

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.

The Kids Are In Bed: Finding Time For Yourself in the Chaos of Parenting is a self-help book that looks at how to make time for yourself after you've had kids.

I'm really on the fence about this one because while I didn't find much advice on how to make "me time" happen, other than the same basic advice you've probably heard a million times before. I found this book was basically just saying "make time for your self care, your partner, and your friends" and "don't lose yourself while trying to raise your offspring" in multiple different ways. I found it to be repetitive and it started to drag after the first chapter.

The only thing that kept me reading this book was the stories from other parents who had similar frustrations as I did. Without those I never would of gotten through the entire thing.

It's one of those books that could simply be a hit or miss depending on the reader. In the end, it was just okay for me.

Are you an overwhelmed and exhausted parent? In The kids are in bed Rachel helps us rethink the time available that we do have. As a working mom I found this book very relevant. I received this copy from NetGalley for my honest review.

I loved this author's first book about finding female friendships. It was the perfect blend of information and narrative. This book is so heavy on information that it was hard for me to get through. It felt more like an insanely long research paper than a book. I am a busy parent of five and could not sustain reading this book because it felt so much like "homework".

If you're looking for a parent's guide that is heavy on research, studies, facts, and figures then this is a great book for you. As a busy mom of five kids, I found it much too heavy to wade through.

I highlighted the heck out of this book. It spoke to me. I also enjoyed one of her other books, MWF Seeking BFF: My Yearlong Search for a New Best Friend, a few years ago.

In addition to some really interesting studies and data, Rachel provides lots of helpful tips to help busy parents feel like they’re making the most of their “free time”. One thing I actually implemented was to create a list of ways to spend pockets of unexpected free time. That way, if you have 20 minutes between other things, you can squeeze in something you like (reading, watching s tv show, or a quick workout), instead of mindlessly scrolling social media.

Also with exercise, she reminds you that you could do a quick 10 minute work out video on YouTube rather than go to the gym. I squeezed in two quick 5 minute workouts last week after YEARS of not working out at all.

I know this sounds like obvious stuff but sometimes you just need a little reminder.

I wish I could give a copy of this book to all my friends. Highly recommend picking this one up!

Not a very helpful book unless you are very similar to the author (with a young child and similar lifestyle). As a mom of multiple older children, this book had nothing for me. It would be better if it indicated in the title that moms of older kids need not bother to read it.

This book shines on every level: sentence after sentence is beautiful and precise. The characters are complicated and sympathetic, the ideas are sweeping and profound, but are never too overt. It’s a rare novel that is as accomplished in its meaning as it is in its storytelling while also succeeding wildly on the language level as well! A novel to lose yourself in and then reflect upon again and again.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

The Kids Are in Bed was my first book by Rachel Bertsche. In a society where people (and especially parents) are feeling more burnt out than ever before, I love the idea of rethinking the time that we DO have. The Kids Are in Bed shared some proactive ideas for parents about not getting "stuck" in every day (sometimes very monotonous) family life grind and utilizing the downtime that you do have in your daily/weekly/monthly schedules.

I thought Bertsche really succeeded at sharing helping everyday tips and hack to not falling into the trap of not having enough time for ourselves, our marriage, friendships, etc. While life may look a lot different than it did "before kids" and the "downtime" we have may well be less, when we look at our habits and chunks of time, it can help us adjust the way we utilize it.

I did find that the stories in The Kids Are In Bed were primarily about her own very specific situation (with fairly young children), and although she did share ideas cited directly from other sources, I would have loved for there to be a bigger variety of examples of family life, especially with different aged children. The challenges vary so much as you move through the life stages of having kids at home from babies to teens...all with their own set of positives and challenges. I think this would open this book up to a larger audience and also help broaden the perspective beyond her own immediate experiences.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dutton Books for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

Don't bother. An entire book composed of the author first complaining about not having enough time for herself, then writing about how terrible modern parents have it, then chapter by chapter talking about her life in each subject (marriage, sex, friends, responsible things like exercise and doctor's appointments, etc.), then talking about what her friends said about it, mentioning a bit of research about it, and offering a tip or two and moving on. It reads like a vanity project of an academic, upper class woman who wanted to write another book, from the very beginning when she complains that her young child wouldn't stay in bed at 7:30 the night she decided to start writing the book to the very end when she writes, "Just before I finished writing this book, I went on a week-long trip to Paris with my mother and sister-in-law."

This could have actually been a helpful book if the author had spent less time chatting about herself and her friends and actually tried to make it helpful. It would also be great if all mothers were not presumed to be privileged white women.

As an AP, homeschooling, work-at-home mother of five who's been doing this mothering business for 21 years, I get the need for finding time for ourselves (and our partners, hobbies, exercise, etc.). This book offers almost nothing that I would have found helpful in all this time. Also, it's a personal pet peeve when mothers of one or two very young children consider themselves expert enough to write parenting books. Other parents may find this helpful, but it didn't do much for me.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for the purpose of review.

This book definitely speaks to me as a working mother of twins. I think all of my friends who are parents will relate to it too. The author's research shows that so many parents are all struggling to balance our time and care for ourselves, and she gives some practical tips on how to help change that. I admit that while I read the beginning of the book, I just skimmed the second half or so as I felt like I'd already gotten gist of what the author had to say.