Consumer Critique: Blue Balls

Disclosure: I received complimentary products to facilitate this post. All opinions are my own.

Being a parent is tough. And it's not uncommon for phrases with a decidedly non-innocent meaning to sneak into every day conversation. Author Sunshine Sweet has conveniently collected some of them in Blue Balls: Parenting is Dirty Business. Some examples that I've actually said by mistake include asking for a "boy toy" at a restaurant, or commenting on the size of a kid's package at a shipping company. The examples are illustrated by Emmi Ojala, and the book provides a great sense of humor and acknowledgement that, if you're laughing when your kids aren't, you aren't alone.

Q. What made you decide to write a book?
A. Because raising kids can be chaotic. Of course there are beautiful moments when your child smiles at you the first time or says "I love you.” But then you also find yourself exacerbated and wanting to pull your hair out too – everyone crying all at once, wailing that so-and-so hit them or they've colored the walls in the bedroom with marker during time-out (how did a marker even end up in their room), or they snuck some candy when you were not looking but the evidence is all over their face. Personally, I find humor to be the best stress reliever and it often helps make tough situations less difficult.

Q. Where do you hear all these funny things?
A. It started out with me writing phrases down that I caught myself saying to my own kids. Once I decided this would make for a great book I talked to friends and they began sending me texts and emails with their own ideas. If I'm not in the right mindset, receiving that random text can be quite shocking.

Q. What's your favorite funny saying?
A. I've got several but "Lick from the bottom up” is one of my favorites - My sister sent it to me and it is SO innocent. It was a hot, summer day in the south and she'd just explained to her three-year old the best way to eat the quickly melting ice cream.