Andrea Mata, a clinical child psychologist, wanted her book to be different. “Other parenting books throw a lot of developmental theory at you, and they’re boring, and they’re not entertaining. Parents don’t want to read them, or the tips are just so impractical. Parents don’t have a lot of time because parents are overwhelmed with everything that is expected of them in today’s day and age of parenting.”
She drew the idea for the name of her book from a memorable incident. As a professor, she noticed that students weren’t reading the textbooks, so she and her co-teacher moved to an easier format. “I remember on Syllabus Day that same co-teacher got up and said, ‘this book is so easy, you can read it as you poop, and so you have no excuses.’” That is when it clicked for Mata. She decided to write a parenting book with practical tips based on research “without giving all of the research, because parents don’t have time for that, and I’m going to write it in a way that they can read it in the time that it takes to poop.”
Aimed at parents of kids ages 3 – 10, “The #2 Parenting Book: Practical Tips for the Pooped Out Parent” takes a lighthearted approach to serious topics. Mata knows that if the book is entertaining, it is easier and more fun to read. Often, she hears that when people think of a child clinical psychologist, they often assume that she will be more serious. She wants people to know that she can be funny.
Mata jokes, “each chapter is practical tips that parents can read in the time that it takes to poop — a mom poop, not a dad poop — because those are significantly different times.”
The book is full of tips that parents can implement right away. Her goal was to write a book that is both fun and practical as well as being easy to read.
She describes the type of parenting style that leads to the best developmental outcomes. “It’s all about parenting using high expectations within the context of the warm and fuzzies.” The book is three sections starting with the fundamentals. If parents do the things in this first section, parenting will become easier.
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The second section teaches parents how to set high expectations. She digs into how to handle behaviors and tame temper tantrums. The final section of the book is all about the warm and fuzzies. These chapters focus on how to build a high quality, loving, nurturing relationship where your child respects you and wants to be close to you.
The Surgeon General has issued an advisory on parental burnout, currently affecting 5.5 million American parents. Mata feels that information overload is one cause of parental stress. The gentle parenting trend that social media promotes is an example because it doesn’t work for most parents and kids.
“It can work in very limited conditions, but for the average parent in America today, gentle parenting doesn’t work, and it leads to developmental outcomes that most parents do not want for their child,” she said.
Mata sees clients at the Anxiety Treatment Center of Greater Toledo. Most of her clients are under the age of 30 and she specializes in working with families whose child has oppositional defiant behaviors. Mata is also a popular speaker, parent coach and provides parenting workshops for businesses to improve employee leadership and retention.
You can find her book on Amazon.
