Our nearly-perfect scoop of summer

I can hardly believe it’s August already. Back-to-school season is in full swing. I feel like summer just started, but already most of it is in the rear-view mirror. And I really can’t say that I’m sorry. I’ll be honest; summer with small kids is every bit as exhausting as it is fun. If I’m being really honest, it’s more of the former, less of the latter. There have been many long, cranky days.

We’ve had meltdowns and melted ice-cream cones. We’ve had (diaper) blowouts, and (temper) blowups. We’ve had carseat kicking fights and “Don’t MAKE me pull over” threats. We’ve had far too many rounds of “Mommy, where are we GOING today?”

But not this day.

Today was a day plucked out of a children’s wear catalog. (Minus the impossibly perfect, impractical children’s wear, of course.) There was frolicking at a sun-dappled park under hazy blue skies. There was a picnic. There was a drama-free trip to the library. There was a playdate.

The girls bestowed dimpled grins on smitten strangers like tiny beauty queens. They were kind to each other. They ate their peas. OK, Bianca ate one. It counts.

They were so adorable, they took my breath away. Did I really grow these two gorgeous, funny little people in my own body? They told jokes, followed by giggles as sweet and bubbly as champagne. Their little voices were as smooth as two scoops of butter-pecan.

We had one—one—picturesque, almost-perfect summer day. I’m still savoring it.

I need to bottle up today and seal it tight. I need to preserve it and tuck it away someplace safe. Because I’m absolutely, positively convinced that it not be repeated anytime soon.

Who knows why this day drifted my way. Maybe we’re finally turning the corner on the “Fearsome Fours.” Maybe I’ve logged enough hard days that the Almighty figured I was due for a good one.

I do think that we get days like this, once in the bluest of moons, to help us get through all of the other crappy ones.

I’m sending some of today’s magic your way. I hope you get your perfect summer day, too. Every mom deserves a few.

Wordless Wednesday

Mia and Milo: The cutest cat-kid combo ever.

It's ready! My e-book "Ready, Set, Sleep" launches today!

It’s here! My first e-book “Ready, Set, Sleep: 50 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep, So You Can Sleep Too” is launching today! I’m so excited!

In this e-book, I share what I’ve learned over nearly five years of answering sleep questions from tired parents—as a moderator for a global sleep website, as the resident sleep expert at www.ParentingSquad.com, and as a widely-published sleep journalist for national and regional publications across the US and Canada.

Some quick facts about Ready, Set, Sleep:

• This is a thinking parent’s guide to sleep; it was written for parents who want to support their child’s sleep needs compassionately, respectfully, and effectively.
• It is geared toward parents of young children, with simple, thoroughly-explained advice that will help babies and young children sleep better tonight and for years to come.
• Ready, Set, Sleep is not an age-specific guide. The tips will help parents of young children from birth through the preschool years and beyond.
• Ready, Set, Sleep does not endorse “cry-it-out.” Of the 50 information-packed tips in this e-book, none involve leaving your child to cry.
• Ready, Set, Sleep is not laden with value judgments. I do not shove a parenting philosophy down your throat. I simply offer practical, specific strategies that work.
• Ready, Set, Sleep is not one-sized-fits all. Using the advice in this e-book, parents can build an approach to sleep that works for their unique child and family.

Here’s what moms are saying about it:

"Malia Jacobson understands the struggles of sleep-deprived modern parents."

"Made a big difference to this sleep-deprived household!"

"Insightful advice for all busy families with sleep problems."

"Wise, useful resource."

"Worked wonders for our family."

I believe you know your child better than anyone else. You are the expert on your own family. I’m here to help equip you with the information to help your child sleep better—so that you might be able to catch some zzzz’s, too.

Interested? I hope you will check it out. And let me know how you like it!

Happy reading—and happy sleeping!

“Go The F**k to Sleep" is brilliantly funny, sad, and also a little boring

Anyone who hasn’t encountered the insanely funny, bestselling mock-children’s book “Go The F**k to Sleep” by Adam Mansbach must be hibernating. Movie rights have been sold, big-name audio versions released, and the buzz keeps on growing.

Because I write about kids' sleep issues, quite a few people have asked me what I think about the book. The answer? I’m on the fence.

On one hand, the book is pitch-perfect and side-splittingly funny. It hits the nail on the head. I find the illustrations by Ricardo Cortés particularly apt.

(Sidenote: I do find it interesting that in mid-2011, we’re still so shocked and titillated by the F-word. In a children’s book! Gracious, me! If you take away the F-word, the book is still clever, but it loses a great deal of its shock value. “Go the Fudge to Sleep” doesn’t have quite the same ring, does it?)

I’m not shocked by the book (not even by the F-word. Get this—I’ve heard it before!) I don’t think the book’s tone skims uncomfortably close to child abuse, like the author of this CNN op-ed. I get the joke. The book resonates with me, and with other parents, because the feelings it parodies are so universal.

When I read the book, I respond primarily to its humor. It’s meant to be funny, and it is.

But after my funny bone has been tickled, I’m left feeling…sad.

Sad, because the frustration that the book captures so well is something I recognize vividly in parents I’ve advised about their kids’ sleep problems. Although the book is funny, the situation it illustrates is not. Many, many parents are in that horrible place. The place where their kids just won’t sleep and they haven’t a clue what to do next.

These people have had their lives ruined by sleep deprivation. Their marriages and jobs suffer. They don’t enjoy parenting, and their kids know it. It’s an incredibly rotten situation that far too many good parents find themselves in.

It’s great to laugh at a crappy situation, but after you’re done laughing, the crappy situation is still there.

So there you have it. For me, the book is bizarrely funny and achingly sad. When I read “Go the F**k to Sleep,” I think of all of the good, conscientious, caring parents I know who want—need—their kids to sleep, who are slowly having the life sucked out of them, night by sleepless night. And that makes it hard for me to enjoy the book, however hilarious and insightful it may be.

While hearing the title repeated endlessly has given me the tiniest bit of F-word fatigue—who would have guessed that the F-word could actually get boring?—it's still darn funny. If you need a good laugh about the often-unfunny topic that is children's sleep, pick it up. I can near-guarantee that you’ll crack a smile, if you don’t crack up. And, when you’re ready to help your child sleep, please check out my new e-book on the topic: “Ready, Set, Sleep: 50 Ways to Help Your Child Sleep, So You Can Sleep Too.” You’ll be glad you did.

(P.S. Is anyone else super-curious about what Fox 2000 is going to do with the movie rights to the book? Should be interesting!)