Sorry, I didn’t want to put a giant screaming “fuck” in the title. 😉 But I’m sure you’ve all seen this by now: Go the F**k to Sleep
If not, you’ve apparently been sleeping for a couple months. Someone sent me a pdf version of that book before it was even for sale on Amazon, and I about died from the hilarity reading it. Parents-to-be, just you wait. You will love your child more than you ever thought humanly possible, but those nights when getting him/her to sleep seems impossible? The words of this book will ring oh-so true.
There’s a wonderfully narrated version of it by Samuel L. Jackson that just might make you laugh out loud, too. I’m hesitant to post it here since it is copyrighted, so if you’d like to hear it just let me know. You can also find it on YouTube, but it might make you sign in or create an account to view it since it contains explicit language. Rules.
I saw this article today, however, and I think it’s a little much. No, the profanity in this book is not suitable for children, but the book is not intended for kids. And the author certainly is not instructing parents to physically harm their sleepless offspring in any way. And demeaning to children? Someone’s taking themselves way too seriously here.
This book has simply put into writing what I guarantee every parent has felt or will feel at some point in their child’s lifetime. It is not the cause of parents not reading bedtime stories to their children as much anymore; it is not responsible for the unfortunate fact that many parents do use language like this regularly with their kids. Yes, my heart breaks into a million pieces when I think of all the children in the world whose parents do not care for them as they should, or at all. No child deserves that. But to portend that this book somehow perpetuates that? I think someone needs to lighten up. Go ahead, laugh at the book. It’s ok, it’s funny. And it does not make you a bad parent.