Happy Chaos: From Punky to Parenting and My Perfectly Imperfect Adventures in Between

by Soleil Moon Frye

Overview

From Punky to parenting, Soleil Moon Frye shares insightful, realistic, in-the-trenches parenting advice, inspiration, and fun.

Enthusiastic, spunky, and positive, Punky Brewster was the quintessential eighties kid. Nearly thirty years later, Soleil Moon Frye-the adorable girl who played her on TV-is all grown up. Now she's a married mom of two, an entrepreneur who parlayed her successful kids' clothing line into a partnership with Target, and a social media whiz with millions of followers. Many of the same girls who watched Soleil on television are now grown up with children of their own, too, and they look to her as a go-to source for realistic, in-the-trenches parenting advice, inspiration, and fun. Happy Chaos invites those women into Soleil's world, and makes them revel in the chaos of their own lives, too.

Soleil believes that "happy chaos" is the sign of a family operating at its best-when parents accept that they'll make mistakes, that there will be messes, tears and skinned knees. She learned to love a jumbled life during her own childhood, when her own mom created an atmosphere that was thoroughly unconventional. Their house in Los Angeles was a haven for many young stars of Soleil's generation, often far from home and looking for a safe place to hang out. In this book, she shows how her happy but chaotic childhood informed her parenting: Each chapter begins with a telling reminiscence before moving into insightful advice and fun stories about life with her husband and two adorable daughters.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780525952312
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/23/2011
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	8.32(w) x 5.90(h) x 1.00(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Soleil Moon Frye was the star of the 1980s sitcom Punky Brewster; today she is better known as an entrepreneur and social media maven. The co-owner of Little Seed, a green children's boutique that just launched a line with Target, she lives in Los Angeles.

Table of Contents

1 Welcome to Happy Chaos 1

2 Let's Have a Baby! 7

3 Granny Panties 15

4 Ya Never Know 28

5 Not-So-Traditional Traditions 37

6 Perfectly Imperfect 44

7 You Marry One, You Marry the Tribe 51

8 Please, Sir, May I Have Another? 57

9 Trusting My Gut, and Not the One I Came Home with After the Baby 63

10 Expect the Unexpected 69

11 What's Yours Is Mine 76

12 Don't Speak to Me Like That 83

13 Eating Dessert First 87

14 What's in a Name? 95

15 Happy Birthday 100

16 Yes, Michael Jackson Was My Babysitter 108

17 What I Learned from Punky 114

18 Too Scared to Scream 121

19 Let's Play the Quiet Game-You Know, the One Where No One Speaks for as Long as Possible ... 127

20 First Comes Love 133

21 The Mack Truck Moment 141

22 Over-the-Shoulder Boulder Holder 144

23 Jake Ryan, Where Are You? 153

24 Girl Time 157

25 The Much-Needed Family Vacation 163

26 Embarrassing Moments 168

27 Sticks and Stones 176

28 The Dash Between 183

29 Please and Thank You 190

30 Be My Baby 196

31 Rated PG 203

32 Crushes 209

33 Wild Child 222

34 It Takes Time to Save the World 228

35 Welcome Back, Virgil Frye 235

36 Don't Stop Make-believing 244

37 Growing Pains 249

38 To All You Dads out There 254

39 Mix Tape 259

40 Press Pause 267

Acknowledgments 273

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Frye has two children and lots of parenting advice on everything from planning a great birthday party to being flexible. . . . For all you anti-Tiger moms out there." —-Library Journal

Editorial Reviews

Three decades ago, Soleil Moon Frye entered her homes weekly Penelope "Punky" Brewster, the title character of a soulful sitcom that made her the quintessential eighties kid. Today, married and the mother of two, she choreographs the "happy chaos" that she believes is most conducive to a thriving, creating household. Her new "perfectly imperfect" parenting guide might be regarded as the antidote to Tiger Mother regimens. A realistic, uplifting, and wonderfully entertaining primer on raising kids without regret.

Once a child TV star (remember Punky Brewster?) and now co-owner of a green children's boutique that is starting up a line with Target, Frye has two children and lots of parenting advice on everything from planning a great birthday party to being flexible. With 1.4 million Twitter followers and 100,000 Facebook friends, she's definitely got an audience. For all you anti-Tiger moms out there.

Library Journal

"Frye has two children and lots of parenting advice on everything from planning a great birthday party to being flexible. . . . For all you anti-Tiger moms out there." ---Library Journal

From the Publisher