As a child of the 80’s, Soliel Moon Frye and I go way back. I have a glorious memory of dressing up as Punky Brewster for Halloween one year, which involved mainly pig tails and lots of bandanas. Her character was so bold and confident and I loved everything about her. Now, 25 years later (has it been that long?) I’m falling in love with her again as the author of a brand new parenting book, Happy Chaos

Soleil, if you weren’t aware, happens to be one busy mama. She’s got her own organic kids’ clothing shop in LA, she hosts the Hersay web series,
and on top of it all, she’s garnered a devoted social media following of 1.4 million
twitter followers. Like so many of us, she originally turned to social
media looking to connect with other parents, and ultimately found a
supportive community. So she decided to gather favorite
tidbits from her network and bring them together with her own beliefs
in this book about imperfect parenting

Happy Chaos,
which released this past week, outlines her advice on parenthood and
how she operates her admittedly messy, chaotic and ultimately happy
family life. Her overall philosophy? Chaos is not a bad thing, and in
accepting the madness you’ll find balance, and therefore
happiness.

These observations are not too far from what most of us have
experienced as parents and I believe that’s the point. Soleil is just like
us… except for just a few small things like oh, I don’t know, having
Demi Moore as a birthing coach.

Mostly though, its nice to hear another parent reiterate your own thoughts, especially when that person in many ways feels like an old pal.

Funny and
heartfelt, the book reads like you are hanging out with your best mom friends, discussing everything from labor to sibling rivalry. You’ll find plenty of suggestions, ideas, excerpts from her followers, personal
tidbits, memories and photos of her youth which her old fans will
appreciate. And no doubt, she’ll gain some new ones along the way –Stephanie M