Thursday, October 13, 2011

Nonfiction Review: When Parents Text


When Dawn at She Is Too Fond of Books recently reviewed When Parents Text: So Much Said…So Little Understood by Lauren Kaelin and Sophia Fraioli, I knew right away I would enjoy this book.  I read it over the past two weeks (I admit it, I read it in the bathroom!) and laughed like crazy.

The book is based on the website of the same name, started by the co-authors after they had finished college and moved back home (as many graduates must these days).  It started with a fateful text from Lauren’s mom about tacos and grew rapidly from there.  The website now has texts sent in by people all over the internet, and the best of them have been collected and categorized into this delightful book. 

Some of the texts are, as expected, about the older generation trying to get the hang of texting, some are just funny because they’re goofy things parents say, and some are actually quite impressive, like the pictures drawn with symbols by parents with WAY too much time on their hands!  The best way to give you an idea of how kooky and funny these texts are is just to provide a few examples from the book.  From the chapter titled n00bs:


MOM: When will you be home? ;)
ME: Pretty soon, why?
MOM: Just wondering ;) Going to bed soon ;)
ME: Okay, what’s with the winky face?
MOM: What?
ME: This! ;)
MOM: That’s a pirate.  See he has an eyepatch! ;) ;)


From the chapter called Master Class:


DAD: mt dishwasher!
ME: Mount Dishwasher?
DAD: No, empty dishwasher, I was being cool.


From the chapter titled Pets:


MOM: You will add the dog as your facebook friend RIGHT NOW!!
ME: mom he’s a dog…
MOM: He is FAMILY, add him or you are grounded!!!!


Ah, I could just go on all day.  So many of these made me LOL that it was hard to pick just a few to share here.  In fact, I often came out of the bathroom, holding the book and reading stuff out loud to my husband and teen sons, much to my own amusement (TMI?).  This would make a great gift for anyone with a good sense of humor and some texting knowledge.  And it really is the ideal bathroom book.  It’s not for kids, though; some of these parents have real potty mouths!

Check out more examples at the website, www.whenparentstext.com.

276 pages, Workman Publishing

4 comments:

  1. Anonymous7:22 PM

    ;)!! LOL

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  2. Great review, Sue! Please tell me this is a paperback!! I think it would make a great stocking stuffer. Here's one I like right now:

    o_O That's my raised eyebrow mom face haha

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  3. Yup, Mary - it's a paperback, and it would make an awesome stocking stuffer (for teens or grown-ups).

    Love your mom emoticon!! You will definitely like this book!

    Sue

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  4. It's the darn auto-correct that makes my texts look crazy!

    I'm glad you found some fun in this one, too, Sue. Yes, a perfect stocking stuffer.

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