A really useful book for pregnant people. It provides lots of talking points and questions to discuss with your partner prior to getting pregnant or giving birth.

I very much appreciated how inclusive this book was in both language used and topics discussed. While I didn't learn anything new, I can see how this book could be helpful to almost and new parents.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wonderwell for the chance to read an early copy of this book!

While I enjoyed the content of this book, there was nothing that I hadn't already at least tangentially thought about, and I often found myself skimming the prose and interview quotes. It could be a good conversation starter for people who are brand new to the idea and don't know what they need to consider but many of these are things that my husband and I already had to discuss as part of our pre-marital preparation in the Catholic Church. One interesting thing about the book is that it's very inclusive and works to be relevant to couples of various gender combinations, and having children through various means (not surprising for an adoption counselor author!).

I’m similar to the author in needing to research and learn as much as possible about life steps such as marriage and parenting! I liked that she included perspectives from dads and same sex parents, being more inclusive in her language around parenting. The book also focuses on different ways of becoming a parent (surrogacy, adoption, sperm donation) being more inclusive than most parenting books I’ve seen/read.

The content of the book is a good balance of light, funny while also remaining serious. Each chapter ends with a great summary and discussion questions to consider.

Overall a great parenting book that highlights big “need to knows,” different processes of becoming a parent, and focuses on feeling ready emotionally!

Triggers: infant loss (brief), miscarriage (brief), anxiety, postpartum mood and anxiety disorders

I wish this book came out before we got pregnant! Garrett provides lots of great talking points and insightful questions to start the conversation with your partner. Each chapter is broken down by topic (finances, emotions, etc.) My partner and I are very excited to have a baby, and I learned many interesting things about him by asking these questions that I wouldn't have asked otherwise. I appreciate Garrett's transparency about how this book started and who was a part of her study. I have already recommended this book to a friend who wants to talk with her partner about kids.

I just reviewed Parent Goals by Lindsay C.M. Garrett. #ParentGoals

A fairly new (and I am assuming) Millennial mother of very young children - and a social worker - giving advice to other millennials about the prospect of having children and co-parenting. While the author's intentions are good, the research is flawed. Nuclear families tend to not flourish without the extended family of grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, and the like being more LOVE and support than inconvenience and afterthoughts. Saying it's okay to use extended fami.y is just not okay. Grandparents don't willingly 'babysit', they instead prefer to visit with both parents and grandchildren. Being with a child in their home or yours for hours or weekends should never be considered babysitting, but visiting and much needed bonding time. If that's the only reason millennials see for having an extended family around is to do them favors and can't find time to fit them into your nuclear family's life in a more normal way, then this needs a reconstruct. Co-parenting is never idyllic and never the way its mapped out. It's hard.. Reflect back on this book when your kids are in their teens and see how much of this is sustainable for more than a couple of seasons. I received an advance copy of this book from the NetGalley in exchange for my review.