Herding Cats: The Chaotic, Exhausting, & Hilarious Task of Parenting Toddlers

by Whitney Bausman

Toddlers are messy. Toddlers are moody. Toddlers have opinions and demands and emotions that flip from happy to hysterical in an instant. Essentially...toddlers are cats. And parenting them? Well, parenting toddlers is nonstop cat herding. 'Herding Cats' is an up-close, real-life look at the world of a toddler parent. A world of tantrums and potty training. A world of never-ending snot. A world of hilariously inappropriate comments, limitless growth, and perfectly timed "I love you's". From the author of 'Partly Sunny: An Honest and Humorous Look at the First Weeks of Bringing Home a Newborn' comes her toddler-filled follow-up. In this memoir bursting with laughter, commiseration, and encouragement, 'Herding Cats' empowers its readers to laugh off the toddler nonsense and find beauty in the midst of wrangling the most feral of felines.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

225 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 30, 2019

About the author

WHITNEY BAUSMAN has saved lives as a nurse, sought thrills in the form of skydiving, and burned serious calories as a triathlete. Somehow, though, these experiences pale in comparison to the exhilarating and exhausting role she finds herself in today. At present, Whitney is a full-time herder of two beautiful, hilarious, and infuriating children. She and her husband reside in Southern Pennsylvania where they savor the beauty among the chaos.

Whitney’s debut publication, 'Partly Sunny: An Honest and Humorous Look at the First Weeks of Bringing Home a Newborn', has been spotted on Amazon’s Top 100 Lists for ‘Parenting & Families Humor’ and 'Parenting Infants', and her follow-up 'Herding Cats: The Chaotic, Exhausting, & Hilarious Task of Parenting Toddlers' is expected to hit shelves in the fall of 2019.

Connect with Whitney:
Facebook fb.me/whitbaus
Instagram @prtlysunnyprnt
Twitter @prtlysunnyprnt

Reviews

[Liz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me exhausted just from reading it. It also made me nostalgic for those years when my own children were toddlers. So many of the incidents that the author described are similar to the experiences with my own children and they brought back the frustration, joy, irritation, exhaustion and magic of those times. The great thing about this book is that it reminded me that how difficult but amazing motherhood is and that we all should pat ourselves on the back that we make our way through it.
I won a copy of this book in a Goodreads giveaway for this honest review.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Every new Mom should read this book so if their young one is doing many of the actions described in this book they will understand that it is quite normal.

Have to believe that any Mom who has already raised their children can relate to these stories - as I did. No one child is exactly the same - not even in the same family.

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book - appreciate it.

[Melissa T · Rating 5 out of 5]

I won this book on good reads first reads, Thank You!


This book brought back so many memories of when my kids were little. I wish they were still young. This is a must read for new parents.

[Anomaly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Honest, Amusing, Entertaining, and Educational

I found this book by chance and chose it as a sort of research item since I've been writing a lot of characters who are parents lately but don't have any children of my own. With a title like Herding Cats and the adorably amusing cover, I figured it would be an enjoyable reading experience instead of a boring and clinical one. And you know what? I was right!

The tone of this book is almost like having a conversation with a new friend who's catching you up to speed on what it's like to be a parent - or commiserating, if you happen to already be one. It's light and refreshing, funny and entertaining, yet also bluntly honest in a very relatable way. No punches are pulled on how gross and infuriating life can be for a parent of multiple toddlers, but no love is withheld either when explaining why all the trials and tribulations are worthwhile.

Reading this book felt like a journey through someone's blog or family YouTube channel: fun and fascinating glimpses into real lives, maybe a little polished to be palatable for entertainment but always with the undercurrent of honesty and realism. I was very entertained and sped through reading because I never wanted to put it down. I greatly enjoyed Whitney's honesty and sense of humour - and the way she manages to convey the individual personalities of each child featured in the anecdotes without having to give long-winded explanations.

On the technical level, I only have two gripes: One, the footnotes aren't tappable and thus by time I reach them at the end of each chapter I've already forgotten context and why I should care. (That's a shame, because many of them are hilarious or even educational - such as the one which led me to learn about embryo adoption's existence - so it's sad to think some readers may skip them.) And two, the phrase "could care less" was used when "couldn't care less" is the technically correct version. Are one typo and me not wanting to flip pages to find footnotes worthy of docking a star, though? I debated it, but ultimately decided the answer is no. I loved this book, overall. It deserves all five!

[Carrie Craven · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a mom of a toddler, I found this book to be encouraging and honest. Whitney shares her own relatable, humorous tales, adding insight for new parents.