Book expresses frustration of raising children in colourful terms
A 'children's book' for mums and dads sheds light on the paradox of parenting - with a dash of humour and some swearing
One lesson that American writer Adam Mansbach has learned as a father is that you can't bargain with a toddler. His frustrations with trying to strike deals with his young daughter to get her to finish her food are summed up in his latest "children's" book for parents, .
"Vivien would be three years old and I'd be, like, 'OK look, let's just make a deal: eat three bites of this dinner, and then I'll read you this story'," Mansbach says. But "she doesn't understand [what a deal is], she doesn't understand give and take. She'd be like, 'Here's the deal. I eat zero bites and you read me a million stories'."
Released a couple of weeks ago, seems a natural sequel to his enormously successful A humorous take on parenting frustrations presented as a traditional children's book of verses, it became an internet sensation and bestseller in 2011.
His other books - novels tackling complex issues such as race, American identity and hip-hop culture - took considerably longer to write and haven't been as lucrative as the two spoofs on parenthood. But Mansbach says the common thread in all of his work is honesty. He would never have written had he not been a parent himself and feeling a little flummoxed at taking care of his daughter.
"The paradox of parenting is that there is constant discussion of it everywhere you look, but it's not always the most honest discussion," he says.
"There are things that are taboo to talk about, and one is the level of frustration we feel as parents, because we feel like if we talk about it, we're bad parents … it's breaking the script of what you're supposed to feel as a parent."
