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Parenting the Sh*t Out of Life
From Mother Pukka and Papa Pukka, the minds behind highly popular parenting blog MotherPukka.com, comes Parenting the Sh*t Out of Life, the Sunday Times bestsellingaccount of parenting told from both perspectives and a handy guide (kind of) on how to raise a small human. It's the must-read for all parents and parents-to-be - and possibly the best (or worst) baby shower gift you could ever give a prospective mum or dad ...
MOTHER PUKKA AND PAPA PUKKA at last offer you this: a book that will not help you grow or raise a human successfully, but a book that might, if you're not too emotionally battered - and can see past the permanent eye twitch - help you laugh a little more than you cry.
This is one couple's take on the horrors and humour of modern parenting told from his side and hers: honest, sad and laugh-out-loud funny. It will speak to anyone with a child or children of their own - or to those hoping to take that monumental step. It may not be easy and you might have no idea what you are doing but, as the Pukkas demonstrate, with a bit of teeth-gnashing, tongue-chewing and joke-cracking, you too will be parenting the sh*t out of life.
MOTHER PUKKA AND PAPA PUKKA at last offer you this: a book that will not help you grow or raise a human successfully, but a book that might, if you're not too emotionally battered - and can see past the permanent eye twitch - help you laugh a little more than you cry.
This is one couple's take on the horrors and humour of modern parenting told from his side and hers: honest, sad and laugh-out-loud funny. It will speak to anyone with a child or children of their own - or to those hoping to take that monumental step. It may not be easy and you might have no idea what you are doing but, as the Pukkas demonstrate, with a bit of teeth-gnashing, tongue-chewing and joke-cracking, you too will be parenting the sh*t out of life.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published September 7, 2017
61 people are currently reading
312 people want to read
About the author
Anna Whitehouse
10 books22 followersAnna is the granddaughter of a Jewish refugee who fled Vienna as a teenagerin 1936. She has loved writing stories ever since she was a young girl and this is her first children's novel.
The Last Santa was inspired by a question asked by Anna's dad when she was ten. "I wonder what would happen if Santa was ever abolished?" You'll have to read the book to find out!
The Last Santa was inspired by a question asked by Anna's dad when she was ten. "I wonder what would happen if Santa was ever abolished?" You'll have to read the book to find out!
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
May 22, 2018
Compared to other ‘parenting’ books I’ve read recently (The Unmumsy Mum springs to mind), I didn’t enjoy this as much. I felt like it was geared more towards new or expecting parents as opposed to those already out there ‘doing it’. I also found that the writing at times was quite repetitive, with both authors covering the same topics one after the other without any additional input. The most useful chapters to me were those relating to flexible working and C-sections because they’re relevant to me at the moment.
I do admire what Mother and Papa Pukka are doing at the moment to try and push flexible working in the UK, and I’m fully supportive of the movement. I appreciated the various sourced facts and figures scattered throughout too, to back up the claims made about the productivity etc, regarding this approach to work. It’s valuable information I’ll be hanging on to when I need it in the not so distant future.
I do admire what Mother and Papa Pukka are doing at the moment to try and push flexible working in the UK, and I’m fully supportive of the movement. I appreciated the various sourced facts and figures scattered throughout too, to back up the claims made about the productivity etc, regarding this approach to work. It’s valuable information I’ll be hanging on to when I need it in the not so distant future.
August 1, 2024
Cartea asta nu are ce cauta în colecție. Nu e despre educație cu blândețe. Autorii, pentru a deveni părinți și-au luat întâi în grijă un câine și hamsteri. Se poate compara un animal de companie cu un copil?
Vocabularul prea colorat al Annei este jenant având în vedere că se vorbește despre un copil și de procedee medicale sau fiziologice. Am apreciat mai mult ce a scris tatăl. Mult mai coerent și realist. Tot la el am găsit singurele (puține) idei bune din carte.
Am empatizat cu ei dar în ciuda durerilor provocate de sarcinile pierdute, cei doi nu mi se par a fi părinți responsabili. Întâi merg într-o vacanță exotică având o sarcină avansată, apoi mănâncă într-un restaurant nou și capătă o toxiinfecție alimentară care provoacă contracții timpurii. Practic, ei se pun singuri în pericol. Apoi, după ce naște, la trei săptămâni mama consumă alcool și își pompează sânii sa fie sigură ca nu ii transmite fetiței vinul consumat prin lapte.
Nu știu de ce a fost introdusă cartea asta neserioasă într-o colecție așa frumoasă și utilă. E vorba doar despre experiența unora de la care avem mai mult exemple de "așa nu".
Vocabularul prea colorat al Annei este jenant având în vedere că se vorbește despre un copil și de procedee medicale sau fiziologice. Am apreciat mai mult ce a scris tatăl. Mult mai coerent și realist. Tot la el am găsit singurele (puține) idei bune din carte.
Am empatizat cu ei dar în ciuda durerilor provocate de sarcinile pierdute, cei doi nu mi se par a fi părinți responsabili. Întâi merg într-o vacanță exotică având o sarcină avansată, apoi mănâncă într-un restaurant nou și capătă o toxiinfecție alimentară care provoacă contracții timpurii. Practic, ei se pun singuri în pericol. Apoi, după ce naște, la trei săptămâni mama consumă alcool și își pompează sânii sa fie sigură ca nu ii transmite fetiței vinul consumat prin lapte.
Nu știu de ce a fost introdusă cartea asta neserioasă într-o colecție așa frumoasă și utilă. E vorba doar despre experiența unora de la care avem mai mult exemple de "așa nu".
July 1, 2023
A really good book to read about parenthood, and despite reading this after having a baby and already in the throngs of parenthood, it was relatable and funny. It made me laugh out loud, especially that bit with Douglas on page 163. And I also liked the facts and figures of Papa Pukka, especially The Parental Investment Returns Matrix (page 226). Recommended.
March 15, 2021
A light hearted look into parenting from two mid-thirties un-adults. Mother Pukka does most of the writing, but every chapter has Father Pukka coming in at the end to give his side of the story.
The good:
The book is funny. There are funny cutaways to how their children behave badly, how they are messes as people, and how they try and find the funny side of life
The book is heartfelt. It is brutally honest, and really shows how much they care about each other. Each partner is self-deprecating and bigs up their partner and it is really sweet.
The not-so-good:
The book isn't that much about parenting. It starts about them getting together and deciding to have children, to their failed attempts to have children, to finally getting pregnant. There is a big section about pregnancy and birth, then another chapter about havign a little baby. Then there is a chapter about flexible working and then the book is almost over.
There isn't that much advice. This isn't about a how-to guide, though Father Pukka does share the FBI negotiating technique which looks to be extremely useful, plus some other links. It is mainly about showing that we are all just trying to find our way through life, and all those people who you think have it together are just as sleep-deprived and stressed as you.
Overall, it was a funny and endearing read. I just wished there was a bit more practical and applicable advice.
The good:
The book is funny. There are funny cutaways to how their children behave badly, how they are messes as people, and how they try and find the funny side of life
The book is heartfelt. It is brutally honest, and really shows how much they care about each other. Each partner is self-deprecating and bigs up their partner and it is really sweet.
The not-so-good:
The book isn't that much about parenting. It starts about them getting together and deciding to have children, to their failed attempts to have children, to finally getting pregnant. There is a big section about pregnancy and birth, then another chapter about havign a little baby. Then there is a chapter about flexible working and then the book is almost over.
There isn't that much advice. This isn't about a how-to guide, though Father Pukka does share the FBI negotiating technique which looks to be extremely useful, plus some other links. It is mainly about showing that we are all just trying to find our way through life, and all those people who you think have it together are just as sleep-deprived and stressed as you.
Overall, it was a funny and endearing read. I just wished there was a bit more practical and applicable advice.
November 1, 2018
De ris si de plins 😂
Nu sunt instructiuni de parenting, dar cazuri adevarate (din care putem invata) din viata unui cuplu pina la aparitia unui bebe si dupa.
Recomandata mai mult pentru viitori parinti si cei care vor sa devin parinti.
Nu sunt instructiuni de parenting, dar cazuri adevarate (din care putem invata) din viata unui cuplu pina la aparitia unui bebe si dupa.
Recomandata mai mult pentru viitori parinti si cei care vor sa devin parinti.
January 27, 2018
Great book and very relatable. It proves we all feel the same!
August 6, 2025
WARNING: MAY MAKE YOU REEVALUATE YOUR OWN MARRIAGE!
I’ve been known to devour a book in a few days (like Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern as a teenager caught up in a letter writing romance, and Elle Wright’s A Bump In The Road as a struggling pregnancy-loss-parent searching for concrete companionship and solid wisdom in a wobbly time). And yet, somehow it took me a full year to finish Where’s My Happy Ending? (and longer to finally post this review). The speed of which I consumed this non-fiction follow-up from Anna Whitehouse and her husband Matt Farquharson isn’t in the slightest a reflection of the quality or pace of this follow-up book to Parenting The Sh*t Out Of Life (one of my FAVOURITE books for, as Anna herself puts it in her Instagram description “people who happen to be parents”), but, perhaps says more about the depth and complexities of the material.
Marriage somehow remains to be as much of a societal pillar and gossiped-about state as it is sacredly private between two consenting adults as it ever was. The stats on other people’s marriages – past and present – can enchant and engross us with trepidation in equal measure.
Reading this introspective account of a real marriage in the middle section of life through the chaos of primary and secondary infertility, screaming babies and sprinting toddlers, workloads and the “domestic load”, dwindling sex lives and smart-phone-addictions encroaching on matrimonial harmony, it’s impossible not to contemplate your own happiness within your own marriage while getting all the tea on theirs.
For a book that I’ve dipped in and out at such a snail’s pace, so, much of its findings have stayed with me – such as, “what does love need right now?” (a question we could all do with asking ourselves more often amidst relationship cold fronts and moments of high tension building to inevitable verbal blows over seemingly insignificant differences that sneakily encapsulate larger issues we’re desperate to air and repair…*and breathe*).
Blinding in its stark honesty of adult relationships and the pitfalls of being a young family, it was too close to the truth to stare directly at and guzzle down in a week.
Undoubtedly it’s no coincidence I was
finally able to snap shut the rainbow hardback cover of Matt and Anna’s autopsied life together after hitting a point of stalemate in my own marriage, feeling pushed to the brink of asking “stick or twist?”
It would be several more months of my attempts of marriage counselling being rebuffed before I would attempt to take the plunge and suggest a trial separation, only to be talked out if it…and for it inevitably to finally become a reality a month later, in mid August, two days after my mother’s death (an event I have found, and continue to unravel, eclipses all else in life; and, reveals the truest hearts among us).
‘Mother & Papa Pukka’s’ second book is by no means a navigational tool for separations and divorce; it’s anything but. If there were ever a manual on adult relationships to overthrow the Cis-gender-opposite-sex-biased but nevertheless masterpiece and society-game-changer Men Are Mars, Women Are From Venus, I believe Where Is My Happy Ending? is it. While the couple it’s centred around happen to be two white middle class straight people (albeit one Scot and one Dane-Brit, this is not wholly their focus. Matt & Anna’s hilariously exotic expeditions in search of monks, professors and sexperts to gather data and their introspective inspections of their own upbringings to discover what bearings they’ve had on their own internalised ideas of healthy marriages reveal frequent fascinating comparisons between same-sex and opposite-sex marriages.
Needless to say, I pre-ordered their third book; a first foray for the parents who know how to parent the sh*t out of life into fiction. (Review pending.)
If Anna & Matt can managed to survive becoming expats together, the trenches of having children, intermittent multiple baby-losses, substantial job changes, running a comedy podcast together, enduring being captive in national lockdowns and grief of losing a family member during a global pandemic, and writing together – whilst maintaining their own careers and friendships – surely there’s hope for the rest of us…?
I’ve been known to devour a book in a few days (like Where Rainbows End by Cecelia Ahern as a teenager caught up in a letter writing romance, and Elle Wright’s A Bump In The Road as a struggling pregnancy-loss-parent searching for concrete companionship and solid wisdom in a wobbly time). And yet, somehow it took me a full year to finish Where’s My Happy Ending? (and longer to finally post this review). The speed of which I consumed this non-fiction follow-up from Anna Whitehouse and her husband Matt Farquharson isn’t in the slightest a reflection of the quality or pace of this follow-up book to Parenting The Sh*t Out Of Life (one of my FAVOURITE books for, as Anna herself puts it in her Instagram description “people who happen to be parents”), but, perhaps says more about the depth and complexities of the material.
Marriage somehow remains to be as much of a societal pillar and gossiped-about state as it is sacredly private between two consenting adults as it ever was. The stats on other people’s marriages – past and present – can enchant and engross us with trepidation in equal measure.
Reading this introspective account of a real marriage in the middle section of life through the chaos of primary and secondary infertility, screaming babies and sprinting toddlers, workloads and the “domestic load”, dwindling sex lives and smart-phone-addictions encroaching on matrimonial harmony, it’s impossible not to contemplate your own happiness within your own marriage while getting all the tea on theirs.
For a book that I’ve dipped in and out at such a snail’s pace, so, much of its findings have stayed with me – such as, “what does love need right now?” (a question we could all do with asking ourselves more often amidst relationship cold fronts and moments of high tension building to inevitable verbal blows over seemingly insignificant differences that sneakily encapsulate larger issues we’re desperate to air and repair…*and breathe*).
Blinding in its stark honesty of adult relationships and the pitfalls of being a young family, it was too close to the truth to stare directly at and guzzle down in a week.
Undoubtedly it’s no coincidence I was
finally able to snap shut the rainbow hardback cover of Matt and Anna’s autopsied life together after hitting a point of stalemate in my own marriage, feeling pushed to the brink of asking “stick or twist?”
It would be several more months of my attempts of marriage counselling being rebuffed before I would attempt to take the plunge and suggest a trial separation, only to be talked out if it…and for it inevitably to finally become a reality a month later, in mid August, two days after my mother’s death (an event I have found, and continue to unravel, eclipses all else in life; and, reveals the truest hearts among us).
‘Mother & Papa Pukka’s’ second book is by no means a navigational tool for separations and divorce; it’s anything but. If there were ever a manual on adult relationships to overthrow the Cis-gender-opposite-sex-biased but nevertheless masterpiece and society-game-changer Men Are Mars, Women Are From Venus, I believe Where Is My Happy Ending? is it. While the couple it’s centred around happen to be two white middle class straight people (albeit one Scot and one Dane-Brit, this is not wholly their focus. Matt & Anna’s hilariously exotic expeditions in search of monks, professors and sexperts to gather data and their introspective inspections of their own upbringings to discover what bearings they’ve had on their own internalised ideas of healthy marriages reveal frequent fascinating comparisons between same-sex and opposite-sex marriages.
Needless to say, I pre-ordered their third book; a first foray for the parents who know how to parent the sh*t out of life into fiction. (Review pending.)
If Anna & Matt can managed to survive becoming expats together, the trenches of having children, intermittent multiple baby-losses, substantial job changes, running a comedy podcast together, enduring being captive in national lockdowns and grief of losing a family member during a global pandemic, and writing together – whilst maintaining their own careers and friendships – surely there’s hope for the rest of us…?
May 26, 2018
PTSOL
Another book to add to my growing collection of witty, frank and sometimes harsh realities of mothers (and fathers - see daddy pukka) to to help remind me that other mums are frayed at the edges and trying to hold their sh*t together.... to confirm that I, just as with the author and many many more mums, are doing pretty damn good day to day.
A read for a morale boost, for a literary arm to pat you on the back and say hey you're alright at this and for knowing compassion for those times when we've seen the darker side of things but survived and that our cherished imp(s) is just fine.
I like this kind of solidarity that the book offers... it's not completely unique in its idea as a book, but then millions of our birth and parenting stories do share similarities and often cross over - it is however a warm insight into this couple, their experiences and jeez as new parents what we can all do with and what we often seek from other parents over coffee and cake is advice, what they did and what to expect - read away and be sated!
Another book to add to my growing collection of witty, frank and sometimes harsh realities of mothers (and fathers - see daddy pukka) to to help remind me that other mums are frayed at the edges and trying to hold their sh*t together.... to confirm that I, just as with the author and many many more mums, are doing pretty damn good day to day.
A read for a morale boost, for a literary arm to pat you on the back and say hey you're alright at this and for knowing compassion for those times when we've seen the darker side of things but survived and that our cherished imp(s) is just fine.
I like this kind of solidarity that the book offers... it's not completely unique in its idea as a book, but then millions of our birth and parenting stories do share similarities and often cross over - it is however a warm insight into this couple, their experiences and jeez as new parents what we can all do with and what we often seek from other parents over coffee and cake is advice, what they did and what to expect - read away and be sated!
January 6, 2019
This book was part of a collection within Univers Publishing House in Romania. I think an appropriate translation for the collection name would be “kindness education”. The book does seem to fit into this category, although I found fewer parts about parenting episodes than I expected. There are stories about the life prior to having the baby, quite some studies references and details about Flex Appeal, a movement Mother Pukka initiated towards flexible working in UK. These didn’t necessarily brought me a lot of value, based on my personal need of information and inspiration at the moment of reading it. However, I did found a few relatable moments and useful parts about empowering the girls, as well as applying the FBI negotiations techniques. Overall, it was like binge-reading a captivating, real life blog. Together with other specialized books I think this one can contribute to getting a good spectrum of information and inspiration on parenting.
January 7, 2019
This was a gift from my soul sister and I couldn't have asked for a better read at this point. It's absolutely perfect for first time parents and isn't at all preachy like I imagine a lot of other parenting books are.
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My only advice if you're planning to read this and are expecting is to maybe wait until you're in the second trimester otherwise it can be a leeetle scary, especially the scare stories experienced by the authors. It freaked me out a little but the writing is brutally honest and that's what made this book a great read. I particularly liked reading from both the Mother and Papa's perspectives because it helps to know how the other half thinks/ feels.
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This book is witty, informative and well worth a read for parents or parents to be.
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My only advice if you're planning to read this and are expecting is to maybe wait until you're in the second trimester otherwise it can be a leeetle scary, especially the scare stories experienced by the authors. It freaked me out a little but the writing is brutally honest and that's what made this book a great read. I particularly liked reading from both the Mother and Papa's perspectives because it helps to know how the other half thinks/ feels.
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This book is witty, informative and well worth a read for parents or parents to be.
October 26, 2020
It’s a painfully middle-class and privileged perspective of life, to be honest. It’s not well written either, and this getting to be a bit of a bug bear when reading this sort of book from ‘someone big off the internet’. It’s like their social media following comes first and their ability to write, second. I love a lot of mum accounts in all honesty, but the books they tend to write are very disappointing. I don’t think I’ll be suckered into buying any more until someone who can actually write and has something different to say, comes along.
November 28, 2017
Funny
Easy to read and light hearted. Easy to pickup between games of hide and seek and wiping yukky substances from my toddlers hands. A good distraction from repeats of Cebeebies programs.
Easy to read and light hearted. Easy to pickup between games of hide and seek and wiping yukky substances from my toddlers hands. A good distraction from repeats of Cebeebies programs.
April 30, 2019
Excellent excellent read - 3 months to go with my pregnancy and I loved this book. Lots of familiarities between this and their podcast but it's a great read. Made me laugh, made me cry but most importantly made me excited for what's to come!
September 19, 2019
Strong and humorous start but flops a bit at the end
The first 6 chapters are so relatable and well, funny but as it goes on it becomes boring and a bit repetitive. Still enjoyable and worth a read.
The first 6 chapters are so relatable and well, funny but as it goes on it becomes boring and a bit repetitive. Still enjoyable and worth a read.
March 24, 2022
An entertaining read with a lot of humour and relatability, but ultimately this was lacking on the actual 'parenting' content. There was more about pregnancy here than parenthood. Although the talk on the importance of flexibility for working was important and I'm glad that was included.
February 18, 2018
A cracking, entertaining and enlightening read! Thanks to my pal for the pressie.
May 26, 2018
Amazing
I gave this a 5* rating because as much as it made me cry it made me laugh too. Nothing but honesty in this book and that is greatly appreciated as a parent myself.
I gave this a 5* rating because as much as it made me cry it made me laugh too. Nothing but honesty in this book and that is greatly appreciated as a parent myself.
October 24, 2018
I enjoyed this very honest, and funny, book of becoming and being a parent. I liked how the mum and dad's had alternative chapters giving alternative takes on situations.
November 4, 2018
It was alright, very real, a bit too sad for me as a hormonal pregnant lady 😂
July 20, 2019
Made me both snigger out loud to myself in public 15 minutes after reading, and have to compose myself to stop from crying on the bus. Emotive.
July 22, 2019
Quite an entertaining little read about new parents.
March 2, 2020
Only read the first chapter and struggled to read the rest. It's not a terrible book, just didn't pull me in.
July 25, 2018
Pretty lighthearted but also serious
It was an enjoyable honest read. My little boy is coming up to 12 months and I’m finally wanting to read book that’s are a bit more fun than the sleep miracle books!
It was an enjoyable honest read. My little boy is coming up to 12 months and I’m finally wanting to read book that’s are a bit more fun than the sleep miracle books!
November 20, 2020
I loved this. I was so pregnant and bored and fucking emotional and this interpretation of parenting, being preggars, losing babies and losing the fucking will to live all with the most hilarious humour was my perfect antidote. Don’t follow them on Instagram after though, they’re annoying as fuck.
May 27, 2021
I heard about Mother Pukka‘s story in a podcast and wanted to learn more. Really enjoyed the first 1/3 to 1/2 of the book but found myself loosing interest when it turned into a bit of an annoyed parenting book rather than a personal story of the challenges to become a parent.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews