My mom had something like, 'How To Love A Troubled Child' in her bedroom bookshelf.
Always hoped it was for my sister.
this post was submitted on 13 Oct 2025
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I'd love finding this book. In fact any book other than the book I found on my parents bookshelf "Modern Childbirth (1972 edition)".
Now put it on your bookshelf for your children to find. Keep the chain going until it's antique and expensive enough to start making them happy.
My mom had all sorts of books on mental health and disability. I remember one on abnormal childhood development (it had neat examples of pictures kids might draw) and multiple with now-outdated but then-clinical terms in their titles. These were textbooks from her attempt at an MS in social work in the 1980s. Didn't keep the neighborhood kids from teasing me that they were my mom's way of coping with having me.
I need to buy that book just to have it for my kids to find.
Hey, at least it was not "Help! My child is stupid" .
Put these two next to each other for maximum emotional damage
They probably figured you couldn't read it. You sure showed them! Nice job, buddy!
Get them back... keep a copy of "Toxic Parents" prominently on your bookshelf.
True story: I was reading that book way back in the early 1990s and my stepdad came over for some reason. I went to put on shoes and when I came back, he had the book in his hands, looking at the cover. He dropped it like it was on fire, we traded an awkward look, then never spoke of it again.
One of my favorite decorations is a bookshelf with very prominently featured titles that make people question either my sanity or their own.
Like what?
Handbook for the Recently Deceased
Atlas Shrugged
Right next to Jack Kerouac
If you bought it you already know the answer.
No matter how you feel about your child, its important to check
Best place to hide their weed.
The Fragrant Pharmacy
the Fargrant Lharmãcy
Your child is neurodivergent, and so are you.