Here are the top ten parenting fails shared on the podcast so far! Two weeks ago, we started the countdown at number 30 and counted down to 21. In last week’s episode, we counted down from 20 to 11. And while all of those stories were great, and I hope you go back and listen to them if you haven’t already, this episode features the best of the best parenting fails shared on the podcast.
I realize that “best” is not really the best word when you’re talking about parenting fails, because one parenting fail isn’t better than another one - which made ranking these stories quite difficult. But I really think you will get something more than just comic relief by listening to these top 10 stories.
The takeaway I hope you get isn’t that mistakes are no big deal. It’s that we all make mistakes, and that there’s no such thing as a perfect parent. And that being the case, it’s much healthier to be able to laugh at yourself than beat yourself up - not to mention much more entertaining.
I'll continue to ask guests to share parenting fails, but here are the storytellers of the best fails shared on the podcast so far.
10. Kristen Chase, half of the duo from Cool Mom Picks, who were interviewed in episode 45 of the podcast.
9. Greg Pembroke, author of Reasons My Kid is Crying, who was interviewed in episode 4 of the podcast.
8. Dave Barry, Pulitzer Prize winning columnist and author of more than 30 books, who was interviewed in episode 51of the podcast.
7. Hillary Frank, host of the Longest Shortest Time podcast, who was interviewed in episode 18 of the podcast.
6. Deva Dalporto, the YouTube sensation whose videos about parenthood have been downloaded millions of times, who was interviewed in episode 15 of the podcast.
5. Jill Smokler, the mom who created the Scary Mommy website, who was interviewed in episode 21 of the podcast.
4. Jeff Kinney, author of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid books, who was interviewed in episode 53 of the podcast.
3. Adam Mansbach, author of the #1 New York Times Bestseller Go the F**k to Sleep and the book You Have to F**king Eat,who was interviewed in episode 33 of the podcast.
2. Jeannie Gaffigan, comedian Jim Gaffigan’s writing partner who also happens to be his wife and was his co-writer on the Jim Gaffigan Show, who was interviewed in episode 38 of the podcast.
1. Michele Lepe, best known as Nina on the Good Night Show on Sprout. It’s not easy to rank parenting fails, but I knew this story would be number one as soon as I decided to do a countdown. I was so grateful when Michele agreed to be my first guest ever on the podcast. It helped launch the show with a great interview and she knocked it out of the park when she shared her parenting fail.
This is Part Two in the three part series of the best parenting fails shared on the podcast so far. I realize that "best" is not really the best word to use when you’re talking about parenting fails, because one parenting fail isn’t better than another one, but it is fun to do “best of” countdowns. So, the takeaway I hope you get from listening to this series isn’t that mistakes are no big deal. It’s simply that we all make mistakes, and that there’s no such thing as a perfect parent.
Make sure you subscribe to the podcast on iTunes or wherever you listen to podcasts, so you don't miss the Top 10 Parenting Fails next week. As for parenting fails 11 through 20, here are the parents who made the list:
20. Amy McCready, the founder of Positive Parenting Solutions and author of The Me, Me, Me Epidemic, who was interviwed in episode 47 of the podcast.
19. Nick Thune, the actor and stand up comedian who has a Netflix special titled Folk Hero and a Seeso special titled Good Guy, who was interviewed in episode 6 of the podcast.
18. Sarah Maizes, Vice President of Children's Programming for The Jim Henson Company author of Got Milf?: The Modern Mom’s Guide to Feeling Fabulous, Looking Great, and Rocking A Minivan, who was interviewed in episode 41 of the podcast.
17. James Breakwell, the father of four daughters known by his 700,000 followers on Twitter as @xplodingunicorn, who was interviewed in episode 12 of the podcast.
16. Ilana Wiles, the mom behind the Mommy Shorts website and author of The Mommy Shorts Guide to Remarkably Average Parenting, who was interviewed in episode 54 of the podcast.
15. Greg Page, the founding member of the Wiggles also known as the Yellow Wiggle, who was interviewed in episode 8of the podcast.
14. Nate Bargatze, a comedian who has mutliple stand up comedy specials and has appeared on Conan and the Tonight Show multiple times, who was interviwed in episode 3 of the podcast.
13. Liz Gumbinner, half of the two moms who started Cool Mom Picks and host the Spawned Podcast, who were interviewed in episode 45 of the ParentNormal Comedy Podcast.
12. Jen Mann, author of People I Want to Punch in the Throat, who was interviewed in episode 5 of the podcast.
11. Sarah Turner, author of The Unmumsy Mum, who was interviwed in episode 25 of the podcast.
Parenting fails are a such a big part of this podcast, I thought it would be fun to create a countdown of the best parenting fails shared on the show. Because who doesn’t love a countdown?
Now, obviously, it is really strange to say one parenting fail is better than another. That’s obviously not the case. But there have been some really entertaining stories shared on the show. Of course, like any countdown, there are probably some stories that should have made the list but didn’t. And there are probably some stories ranked too high or too low.
The reality is that all of these stories are great for parents to hear, and the takeaway I hope you get from listening is that we all make mistakes, but it’s better to laugh than get stressed out to the point of crying.
So this is part 1 of 3 episodes counting down the "best" parenting fails shared on the podcast. Parents in Part 1 of the countdown include:
30. Norine Dworkin-McDaniel, one of moms behind the Science of Parenthood book and website, who was interviewed in episode 9 of the podcast.
29. Karen Alpert, the New York Times bestselling author of I Heart My Little A-Holes and I Want My Epidural Back, who was interviewed in episode 31 of the podcast.
28. Rosie Pope, who starred in the Bravo Network's Reality Show Pregnant in Heels, who was interviewed in episode 30 of the podcast.
27. Mary Elizabeth Williams, author of A Series of Catastrophes and Miracles: A True Story of Love, Science and Cancer, who was interviewed in episode 35 of the podcast.
26. Brian Gordon, creator of the Fowl Language webcomic, who was interviewed in episode 29 of the podcast.
25. Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor in chief of the Huffington Post, who was interviewed in episode 34 of the podcast.
24. Asha Dornfest, author of Parent Hacks: 134 Genius Shortcuts for Life with Kids, who was interviewed in episode 56 of the podcast.
23. Clint Edwards, author of This is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, who was inteviewed in episode 10 of the podcast.
22. Amy Bellgardt, the mom who runs Mom Spark, who was interviewed in episode 57 of the podcast.
21. Mike Spohr, editor of BuzzFeed Parents, who was interviewed in episode 36 of the podcast.
Jennifer Lehr, author of ParentSpeak: What's Wrong with How We Talk to Our Children--and What to Say Instead is the featured guest this week. In our conversation, Jennifer will explain what "parentspeak" is and why we should change some of the common phrases we use with our kids.
Many of the common phrases Jennifer says not to use are phrases I say to my kids all the time, including "You're so cute," "Be careful," and "Can you say thank you?" These are phrases I'll probably continue to use, for better or worse, but I do think Jennifer makes some good points about how they have the potential to send a different message than what was intended.
Listen to the episode and you be the judge of whether "parentspeak" is a problem, too politically correct or somewhere in between.