If you spend any time on the social media platforms, you have hopefully had Gwenna come across your feed. From her earnest parenting and porch goose shenanigans and the relationship with her kids, I love seeing her. I am also not a parent, but really feel like I got a lot from this book. Her parenting style isn't for everyone, and she is the first to say that. How she chooses to raise her kids works for THEM and she is simply offering some ideas and advice on that. Thank you Gwenna for narrating this audiobook as well, it was like a heart to heart with an older sibling about life.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for this audiobook.

Do you need a book to convince you that you are a good parent? Well then this book is for you! Gwenna gives some amazing tips and tricks, while all reminding you that parents is hard work and you know your child best.

The Audio is fantastic, because, well, Gwenna reads it. And let’s face it- you are probably reading this book because you follow her funny videos on social media. And if you don’t follow her- you probably should.

As a first time parent I enjoy reading books that take a new look at parenting. This gave such a good perspective to take as a parent. The author did a fantastic job writing this book and I can’t wait to read more from this author.

Audiobook received for free through NetGalley

Entertaining and informative. It might be the first parenting book I actually finished. At least in the first five. So glad I came across this!

Gwenna is the kind of parent I strive to be. Throughout this audiobook, I laughed, nodded, and felt all the emotions of parenting. Parenting is hard and it is always good to be reminded. The tips and thoughts on responsive parenting throughout the book may not all be revolutionary, however they are gentle reminders that as parents, we can do this.
This is not a stuffy parenting book - it is full of Momma Cusses being true to herself and I am here for it. The book was like a gentle hug and kick in the pants. Highly recommend the audiobook to experience the book to its full potential.

This was funny, and so relatable. I think any parent who is currently feeling WTF pretty much every second will enjoy this book. Well worth the precious free time to listen.

This was funny and helpful and so relatable. Recommend to anyone who is a parent. I love it when authors read their own books and this one is no different. It felt like a mom friend was giving me advice for the times when I really need it.

This was so relatable. I'm not a yeller, but I am a gentle parenting, elder millennial mom of littes, with very late diagnosed ADHD, who grew up as a guinea pig of the gifted program. Gwenna is funny and likable, and she has good advice that's easy to apply.

I already purchased a copy for my library. I hope to buy others to share with mom friends with a sense of humor.

Thank you NetGalley and LibroFM for the ARC.

Informative, relatable, and funny. It's great to have a physical copy of the advice that Gwenna has given over the years on the internet. There were even more advice and experiences shared in this book. If you like her shorts, you'll love this book.

4.5 stars

I'm not a parent, nor do I really plan on becoming one. Despite this, I really wanted to read Gwenna's book. I follow her on TikTok, and I find her parenting techniques very interesting. She is also hilarious, so I just had to read her book. The thing is, this book was great, even for a childless person!

I may not have children, but this book is very comforting. In a way, reading it is like re-parenting yourself. It talks about identifying, regulating, and actually feeling your emotions. You learn about setting boundaries for yourself and your children. The way she wrote is very much the way she speaks in general, and that's super helpful. It's not dry and clinical. It comes across as a person talking to your about their experiences and then giving you the best advice they can. The use of her fun phrases like "womb fruit" just makes this feel like a casual "field guide" instead of a parenting book. She's not telling you how to parent your children; she's giving advice to help guide you through the many stages of life.

I really enjoyed this book, and I want everyone to read it, even if you are not a parent. It may help re-parent the parts of yourself that needed it as a child. It was a bonus that I was able to get the audiobook because I really enjoyed hearing Gwenna's tone as she read. It really made it even funnier.

Thank you, Netgalley and MacMillan Audio, for the ARC of this audiobook.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Momma Cusses
By Gwenna Laithland
Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Pub Date: 3/5/24

I have followed Gwenna on TikTok for a couple years now. Not only is her content funny and very relatable. She gives great advice about parenting and relationships between parent and child. This book was much the same. Very funny and enjoyable but also packed with suggestions and information. I received the audio copy of this book. Gwenna is the narrator.
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Originally, I put in for this book because I thought in was about a Mom giving humorous stories about raising her kids. I did not even realize responsive parenting was a thing to do. So, really this was my error. I am older and had my daughter when social media was just starting to become all consuming. I decided to continue though, mostly wondering if all this Expert Advice is helping Moms or raising the bar of stress exponentially. I thought it was high enough when I had a child. Fortunately, the author states she is not a parenting expert and actually you, the actual parent have the best sense of what is best for your child. I took from this that responsive parenting focuses first on us parents practicing regulating our own emotions so we have a steady approach with our kids. If we can behave this way, our children will learn helpful tools to deal with their own emotions. I did find the author to be funny and she tries not to take herself too seriously which was refreshing. I am still glad I got through before Facebook, Instagram, Tik-Tok, Pinterest, and several other Social Platforms that I just think is overall damaging to Moms. So, this book is good, but having to sift through so much social media just seems stressful. I do thank the author for helping moms have a bit of a break from all these experts coming at them from all directions. Her advice seems caring and sensible.

I was fortunate and had the Audio Version of this book. I think it worked especially well listening to the book. For busy and exhausted parents listening to a chapter in the car while driving your little darlings, or perhaps when everyone else is finally asleep you can listen to a few more chapters. I think this is probably easier than having a physical book to read through.

Thank you NetGalley, Gwenna Laithland, and Macmillan Audio for granting me a copy of this Audio Book. I always leave reviews for any book I read.

I was broadly familiar with Gwenna’s content on her Momma Cusses TikTok before picking up this audiobook. I do not follow her account but was very curious to see how parenting advice from a TikToker would translate into book form.

Firstly, head the many many warnings about millennial cringe during the intro. I’m a gen-z and millennial cusp that leans more toward the millennial end and at points I found myself cringing hard. If you can’t stand when people call dogs doggos and never had a “mustaches on everything” phase, the humor and stylization in the book might not work for you.

If you, however, long for the days when hipsters were the controversial fashion ideal, then you’ll feel right at home.

I had some pretty big issues with this book.

I appreciated that this book had quick TLDRs at the end of each chapter but found it extremely patronizing to not include on for the chapter Gwenna deems the most important. The justification given that this is so that you definitely read the chapter said to me that Gwenna doesn’t trust her readers. If it’s the most important chapter in your book, you should want an easily referenced section for those who will reread or need to refer back.

I have a large bone to pick over Gwenna’s positioning that there is no emotional development to be made during the early infant stages. Repeatedly she states that there are no ways we can influence our child’s emotional development until they can communicate their emotions to us using words. This is just factually incorrect and overall dangerous. Many, many childhood and infant development experts have shown that there are many ways we communicate to our infants how they are expected to express their emotions. It felt irresponsible to say there is NO way to impact emotional development at that point.

Gwenna argues that calling gentle parenting gentle parenting is bad for a number of reasons, mostly alluding to the fact that it doesn’t feel “right” for her. Instead, she renamed gentle parenting to make it fit her better and is building the entire premise of gentle parenting to be part of her “brand” instead. I didn’t enjoy that.

I also disagree with the premise that the “only parenting expert is the person parenting that individual child” because simply, we can’t just change the meaning of words to fit our individual narratives. At what point does one become a parenting expert through Gwenna’s eyes? The moment they become a parent? The moment they decide they want to be a parent? After they’ve kept their offspring alive long enough to claim a tax return with a dependent? This feels like a dangerous step into anti-professionalism and anti-academia that I don’t think Gwenna intentionally wades in to.

Something Gwenna does intentionally do is name another parenting writer as a major influence who has repeatedly shared misinformation and outright manipulation of data in order to advocate for lessened safety measures around COVID and other community health concerns.

The chapter on “self care” going on as long as it did without any mention or acknowledgment of self care as a practice originating from Black Feminists was so disappointing.

The section writing off parents with disabled kids by a wordy and frivolous “I can only share my individual perspective and therefore didn’t write about your kids” should have came at the front. To include it in the very last chapter feels like a waste of time for parents of neurodivergent and disabled children.

I also have deep concerns about Gwenna writing about her very obvious issues with anger in a way that justified her actions (including shattering an oven door by throwing a lunchbox through it) without encouraging readers to GET HELP for that type of explosive anger issues. I don’t know if Gwenna has pursued treatment for her anger issues she documents throughout this book because she does not mention it either way. There’s no shame in having a temper or having anger issues BUT you HAVE to get help for those issues, especially if you’re reacting to a child loading the dishwasher wrong by throwing your belongings through the glass door of an appliance like Gwenna details doing in this book.

This book was as hysterical as it was informative. Gwenna doesn't claim to be a parenting expert. In fact, she makes it very clear, multiple times, that the only parenting expert is YOU, the parent. But, she's got some funny stories and some interesting revelations that can help us along the way. And yes, she cusses. A lot. But honestly, it just makes her even more relatable. Because seriously, if you're parenting and you're NOT cussing....are you even REAL?!

She introduces us to responsive parenting, which is pretty different from the way many of us are raised. It's essentially "gentle parenting", but it's not "permissive parenting" because yes, there's a difference.

This book was great at giving advice without making you feel like you're stupid or that you are failing. She makes everything relatable and lets us know that making mistakes is a huge part of parenting and as long as we are honest about those mistakes and apologize for them, everything will turn out okay.

I definitely recommend this for parents or parents-to-be!

Give this parenting book all the dang stars!

I have followed Gwenna on TikTok for a couple years now and absolutely adore her! Give me a parenting book from someone as real and down to earth as her with a handful of crazy off topic stories and some F-bombs sand I'm in!

Parenting books are usually really difficult for me to read because they're just... boring. Gwenna has managed to write a book that actually captured my attention so well that I listened to it in a single day. I've started putting some of her suggestions into practice and can see how they make a difference! I also love how she by no means claims to be a parenting expert and that this stuff just works for her and her kids. The constant "nobody is better for your child than you" reminder was wonderful (I think I messed up the actual verbiage, but none the less, it made me feel seen!)

Well done, MommaCusses. Well done.

I know of Gwenna from TikTok and enjoy hearing her parenting and life stories. Here's the thing, though... I'm not a parent. I think this audiobook was just as enjoyable being childless. There is a lot of wisdom in these pages for how to discipline and develop your children, and I think the message is delivered skillfully with no judgement. That is a feat.

The audiobook is also great as Gwenna narrates it. Her voice here is more polished and "professional" than her casual TikTok voice, but I think that works. I highly recommend!

So very relatable. I loved her thoughts on Candy Land. She was spot on with how the times have changed. We really don’t have to entertain our children every moment of every day…Candy Land was made for KIDS so yeah it’s ok if we as adult cringe when we get asked to play it lol.

In this book there’s something for everyone. There is no citing of text or medical journals…it’s more like you’re at a bar venting or laughing about all things “momdom” and another mom sitting nearby gives you that look like “I see you” and then you get to talking and you both just keep saying “Oh I know right!? Yes! I’ve been there.”

This was an entertaining audiobook. If you’ve ever felt alone in your momming, yeah she’s been there too…we all have. You’re not alone and if anyone tells you being a mom is a breeze they are lying to you.

If you’re struggling just know we all are at times, as long as we don’t all meltdown together. Us mommas need to stick together and support each other.

Gwenna has a way of saying exactly what some of us are thinking, but are unable to vocalize on our own. Her voice is honest, raw, and real. She makes very clear that she does not consider herself a parenting expert, but the listener will disagree. Her view on parenthood is inspiring, and she reminds all of us that we're all doing the best we can. I would recommend this book for any library's parenting section.

I absolutely loved this! I have seen Gwenna come up on my instagram and have always enjoyed her reels so when I saw she wrote a book I was so excited!
Her writing has the same great informations she shares on her page and it was so nice to hear these words of wisdom from someone I related to in life and I know hasn’t always been perfect but is doing their best. Hearing things from another parent and not a therapist or someone with 16 letters after their name is so amazing and underrated.
Absolutely loved this and love putting her help into practice with my kids.

Momma Cusses by Gwenna Laithland

Thank you so much NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and St.Martins Essentials for the gifted copy and the chance to review it honestly.

First of all the foreword totally got me choked up. Abbi did a phenomenal job narrating. Gwen a also did a fantastic job narrating her book baby. This book is ridiculously relatable for the mother that I am. I 100% relate to this parenting style and as soon as I started reading it, I recommended it to all of my mom friends. It reminded me that I’m only human and trying to do better is better than not trying at all. As parents we try to be “perfect” but we really do forget that’s just not achievable because we are human and we do make mistakes. I really really enjoyed this read! 10/10 recommend and I’ll be keeping it on my shelves forever. If you don’t have time to read it physically, the audiobook is amazing!

Happy reading!