I loved this book. I’m a huge fan of Gwenna on Instagram.
Her book did not disappoint.
I felt like she stayed true to she is and it really resonates in the book.
I enjoyed the profanity and the heart to heart I felt I was getting through this book.

Definitely recommend!!!

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC!

I have been a long time follower of Gwenna on TikTok, and when I saw she had written a book I knew that I had to read it. I often refer parents I am working with to her content because it shows relatable ways to communicate with tiny humans who are learning to human. Having a book is an excellent next step.

This book is accessible to many, and includes neurodivergent friendly summaries. On top of being accessible and understood by many, it is also backed by research. Gwenna- though not explicitly stated- has drawn from the works of leaders in child development research. I truly can not wait until this book is published and I can keep it on my shelf.

I will recommend this book on a regular basis to families who will benefit from relatable scientific content.

I found this book to be incredibly refreshing even though I don't typically subscribe to the whole whole "cool mom" aesthetic and am a bit more old school in my parenting ways. However, from mom to mom, it's so very important for us to say to one another "you're killing it!" "You're more than enough!" "You're a rockstar!" "Keep that shit up!" and support one another. And for that reason, I loved this book. Sound, earnest advice from a mom who gets it and who wants other moms to lift each other up. Well, done, Gwenna 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻

Special thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Essentials for sharing this digital ARC with me in exchange for my honest review.

Having followed Gwenna's social media for years, I was so excited when I saw this book. I am not even a parent, just trying to be the best aunt ever. Having the basic tenants of gentle parenting in a book format that is actually fun to read was surprisingly interesting. While I understand that the stream of consciousness word dump is not every reader's favorite format, this reminded me strongly of Jenny Lawson's Let's Pretend This Never Happened. For that reason, Gwenna knocked it out of the park.

What can I say but…WOW! I mean talk about hit the nail on the head! I was able to relate to about 99% of everything Gwenna was saying! I laughed out loud several times, was triggered a few times, and thought I was writing the book a couple time. I cannot wait for this to be released! It will definitely be a book I want to have via kindle and audible and I will be adding it to my actual shelf for sure! (And I’m picky on who gets to be on my actual shelf) I just can’t say enough about how good this book was!! I wish I had this a few years ago when I first gave birth to my son!

Gwenna is my spirit animal! She explains gentle parenting in a way that any parent can understand and relate to. She helps shatter the myth that gentle parenting means letting your children run amuck.

I loved this book so much. I would have blown through the whole thing in one sitting if I wasn't falling asleep on the couch every night at 9 pm thanks to my "crotch goblin" as Gwenna calls them. I have read a number of parenting books and never really retained any of the content, but this book is wonderful. The title of this book caught my eye (I have never heard of her tiktok channel). Not only does she make you feel that it is OK to lose your sh*t once in a while, and that it is OK to be overwhelmed because parenting is HARD, but she provides so decent strategies for dealing with the tough stuff. I've already employed her strategy for helping my 4-year-old feel his emotions, and it has made meltdowns a lot easier and productive for both me and the little guy. I am so bummed this book doesn't come out until March, because I want to buy a copy for all of my friends. I am so appreciative of the opportunity to read this now, it's really been a blessing. Thank you!

Momma Cusses felt like a heart to heart from a relatable (albeit slightly inappropriate) responsive momma mentor. I’m gonna be honest, I’d buy the book just for the forward written by her oldest daughter - it’s the words every cycle breaker longs to hear straight from the mouth of the firstborn who got both “versions” of her mother: reactive and responsive. The letter from her firstborn was so moving and exactly what every parent who is trying this new thing called responsive parenting wants to hear.

The book has profanity - truly, with a name like “Momma Cusses” you could hardly expect anything less, but it’s worth saying that Gwenna is fluent in four letter words and she doesn’t shy from utilizing them to their fullest extent- but unlike what I grew up with - this profanity laced parenting book doesn’t weaponize their delivery. They just exist - I don’t love profanity as I find it triggering, but I will say it was nice to see that they can be used in ways that do not demean, belittle or otherwise demoralize another human being of their dignity.

I really appreciated that Gwenna remained true to herself and her mission throughout the whole. It was very clearly her voice I heard in my head as I read and at no point did she try to own another voice. You know exactly what you’re getting into with her after the first 1.5 chapters and she delivers and over delivers: this book is packed with responsive parenting takeaways learned by Gwenna and self reflection on her journey to becoming more responsive, chapter after chapter disabling the triggers to debilitating mom shame, and she leaves you with the sense that she’s in it with you and walking alongside you and that you can do it. Also cheeky humor. Lots of hilarity. I appreciated the silliness. Spoiler alert, you must read to the very last. I guffawed. Millennials forever. 😆

I’d like to thank St. Martins Publishing Group and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is a fantastic book that will be enjoyed by people who are fans of Gwenna's instagram account, and those who are not. She has a great mix of personal anecdotes and useful information, and is very clear throughout that, as she often says on instagram, "this may not work for every family, but it works for ours." Go preorder this book.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the eARC I received.

“There’s no such thing as a parenting expert. Except you. You’re the expert on raising your own kid.”

I’m not sure I’ve ever annotated a book so much. I highlighted so many things to look back on. Since following Gwenna in early 2020, I’ve already been trying to implement a bit of her parenting style into my everyday life so I can’t explain how excited it was when I was given this ARC to read!

This book isn’t boring or shameful like plenty of other parenting books. It isn’t one of those ones where the author goes “this is what I did and it’s the only right way of doing this and everything else is wrong”. It’s hilarious and sarcastic and so much fun, yet so insightful. I’m already planning to do a re-read as well as have my husband read it!

Thank you to NetGalley as well St. Martins for proving me a copy of this book ahead of release in exchange for an honest review. All opinions stated are fully my own.

I'm not a social media person and was not aware of Gwenna Laithlandprior to this, but I was intrigued by the description so gave the book a try. I am not a self-help or parenting book kind of mom - or person in general - so this was a bit of a stretch for me, still I was curious enough to give it a go.

For me, this is not a book to sit and read in a solid sitting so much as a piece to pick up and flip through every now and then. I really loved that she included a blurb of each chapter at the end, for those with short attention spans or who wanted to know what the high points were - and I did find myself reading those first then skimming some of the chapters that were less relevant to me personally. On the whole i enjoyed this one. Her sensible and often irreverent take on parenting meshed in many ways with my own, and where it didn't I found myself interested in learning about the divergences. This was an entertaining and interesting look at parenting, even for those of us who don't tend toward parenting books. It was nice to commiserate with someone who's been in the trenches!

Thank you NetGalley for an ARC copy of this book!

Full disclosure: I do not have children. I was interested in this book both as a teacher who has seen a big uptick in behavior problems post pandemic AND someone in their mid-thirties still on the fence about having children.

Teacher perspective: Gwenna says ‘you cannot responsive parent a child that is not your own’. While I completely agree, I also know that many of the skills she talks about including self-regulating as the adult, boundary setting, repetition and consequences are all things I am constantly adjusting in my classroom every year. I have thought a lot about my own responses to bad behavior AND how I can create boundaries and rituals in my classroom that help to show expectations.

As a thirty-something thinking about parenting: I actually found this book oddly comforting. I know… weird. I have been in therapy for a long time. A lot of responsive parenting is about reparenting yourself. The language in this book is similar (although not nearly as dry) as the work I do in therapy. I feel like I understood the basics of this book on an emotional level. However, I feel like it could be really mind-blowing for folks who are new to thinking about their own emotions. (In a good way)

Overall, this book is incredibly clever, easy to read and honest. It is everything you would expect from Gwenna. I gave it four stars because I found it be LONG winded. I think she could have trimmed at least 50 pages off this book and get the same point across.

I would highly recommend this book for parents who are looking to get the most out of parenting for THEMSELVES!

I LOVED this book. So much so that I started reading it out loud to my husband so that he'd be forced to listen to it. I love the concept of responsive parenting and how the author teaches the reader to be an intentional parent. I was able to connect with what she was saying super easily, and this book helped illuminate some of the reasons behind many of my not-so-great parenting moment.

As a mother of three, with two of my kiddos being toddlers, Momma Cusses was a breath of fresh air. This is one of the few parenting books I have ever joyfully read, and didn’t feel totally overwhelmed by.

Gwenna’s humor and writing style made me feel like she was personally hyping me up over FaceTime. I really appreciate her approach to topics that would normally bring about feelings of shame and guilt as a parent — this being said, the way she addresses Mom Guilt & Mom Shame is brilliant!

I loved the distinction made between gentle and responsive parenting. As a new mom four years ago, learning of “gentle parenting” changed everything for me. But I soon realized that a lot of what I thought gentle parenting was left me feeling awful about myself, especially when I lost my cool or found myself overstimulated. Momma Cusses does an excellent job of affirming your worth as a responsive parent, as you unlearn the ways you may have been parented.

This book deserves all of the praise! I’m grateful for the opportunity to have read an ARC thanks to NetGalley and the publishers.

I really enjoyed this! The field guide entries were awesome and it was so smart to put in the TLDR’s at the end of each chapter. I loved the way the whole book was organized and really vibed with the writing style.

I am a big fan of Momma Cusses on TikTok and was thrilled when St. Martin's Publishing Group and NetGalley reached out to me with an e-ARC of her debut novel/field guide for “parenting that won’t make your kid need therapy”

I think Gwenna is a hilarious, kind and caring mother and gives wonderful and helpful tips to current and aspiring parents. If only my parents parented more like her! While she doesn’t claim to be an expert, I do think she has a lot of fabulous advice and that her book will help lots of parents raise a more emotionally intelligent generations.

Thanks for the e-ARC in an exchange for an honest review. I can guarantee I’ll use this in my own parenting journey!

Gwenna is fantastic on TikTok and has some amazing advice and observations. I found the same in this book. She seems like such a genuine, lovely person. This book is a great read for parents full stop. I wish I had had it when my kids were smaller, but they’re still small enough for this to be REALLY helpful.

Love, love, LOVED this!

Momma Cusses gave me all the feels! I had tears welling reading the sweet forward written by Gwenna’s daughter, toppled into bits of mom guilt/regrets, followed by hope and determination, and laughed out loud several times!

I have read, or tried to read, several parenting books and have such a hard time relating to and powering through most due dull writing and unrealistic suggestions. That was NOT the case at all with this book. I flew through it and enjoyed it so much along the way because it was so real and relatable. I found myself writing down a ton of notes and ideas to try with my own “chaos goblins.”

The only downfall is not being able to read this sooner in my parenting journey, but it’s never too late to learn better and do better!

I’m not typically a big fan of self help books but I love Gwenna’s content so I really wanted to read this. It was well written and I felt it stayed true to her typical disposition. It was easy to read and overall enjoyable. I do wish it had been a bit more visually interesting as that was the impression I got from her content and the cover but that’s really my own critique.

This was a very informative and surprisingly charming book that outlines responsive parenting. Told in a humorous yet relatable memoir type style, this book gives readers a look into how one momma raises her littles and the styles that work and didn’t quite work out for her. As a soon to be first time mom, I found seeing examples of parenting to be both informative and thought provoking and very helpful when I consider how I might want to approach things with my own little. Definitely worth the read and thank you to NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book.