Contemporary Authors

Bunmi Laditan is a regular contributor to Parenting.com, Mothering.com, iVillage.com, and The Huffington Post, and has appeared on "Good Morning America" and "CBS Sunday Morning." She lives with her family outside of Montreal.

She is the humorist behind the social media phenomenon The Honest Toddler, with 371,000 likes on Facebook and 303,000 followers on Twitter. Her newer Facebook feed for Toddlers are A**holes has 25,000 followers - and growing.

Bunmi Laditan is a regular contributor to Parenting.com, Mothering.com, iVillage.com, and The Huffington Post. She lives with her family outside of Montreal. The Honest Toddler is based on her youngest child. Not potty trained, not trying, HT enjoys attention, cake, television, running, and games.

Bunmi Laditan is a writer and social-media obsessed female human. She is the author of The Honest Toddler: A Child's Guide to Life and contributes to The Huffington Post, Mommyish, Parenting and some other sites. Bunmi lives in rural Quebec by way of California with her three children and husband.

Bunmi Laditan is the creator of the popular blog Honest Toddler. She is also the author of humorous parenting books for adults: The Honest Toddler: A Child's Guide to Parenting and The Honest Toddler: How to be a Better Parental Servant. She lives with her family in Canada.

“I can use the potty. I just don’t give a damn,” was tweeted at 8:32 on May 1, 2012, and with it @HonestToddler was born. Less than 2 years later the twitter account has spawned an international book deal and has been optioned for tv.

Bunmi (pronounced Boomy) Laditan‘s success may have been “overnight,” but it was no accident. She grew up in California where she took a programming course at age 12 and learned HTML. “It changed my life,” Laditan says gathering props for a keynote she was about to give at Edmonton’s Nest In The City last month. “Kids should learn some code, I don’t think we understand how powerful that can be.”

Whether it was writing code, or writing words, writing was what she wanted to do. After the birth of her first child she wrote a screenplay and spec scripts for comedy shows. She would stay up late writing between breastfeeding, chasing her dream. She tried. Hard. But all she had to show for the effort were rejection letters. “So many rejection letters,” she sighs.

So she fell back on that coding knowledge and moved into the world of social media working for family brands, creating meetups, and doing baby food tastings. Yes, she tasted the baby food and admits it’s really good. (She recommends organic mangos and confesses to having hoarded sample jars to bring home for her, not the kids).

Eventually, after the birth of her second child, she followed her husband to Canada where Laditan found herself living in the outskirts of Montreal. While he went to work, she stayed home with the kids listening to Rosetta Stone trying to grasp a new language.

It was in that time with 2 kids, one with “full blown toddleritis” , that she fell back on what she knew to find relief.

“I just needed to laugh,” she says, remembering that morning not even 2 years ago when @HonestToddler was born. “I had a 5 yr old, 2 yr old, I was in a new city and I needed to laugh. I didn’t have a car yet, I was just really stressed out and wanted to make myself laugh.”

I don’t want to alarm anybody but one of my socks came off

— Honest Toddler (@HonestToddler) January 26, 2014

There was lots of sock drama in those early days, Laditan recalls. Her daughter had all the typical toddler defiance, and was trying to assert herself. “I just thought for some odd reason, I would create a twitter account and tweet what was in her head.”

The account was an instant hit. People started retweeting. The follower count grew. In a matter of days she had amassed nearly 5000 followers and felt the need to share her secret.

“I had a playdate with a mom I met online,” she remembers. “I made cupcakes and we decorated them and I wanted to impress her so she would come again. And then I told her ‘I tweet as a toddler and I have 5000 followers..’ I think she thought I was a little unbalanced .. “

Held hands with the wrong lady.

— Honest Toddler (@HonestToddler) June 21, 2012

Laditan had “outed” herself, but still tried to maintain a distance between her family and the account.

“I didn’t want to put my kids out there and wanted to be more general and anonymous, because there’s more freedom when nobody knows who you are.”

“I just had a blast, I had so much fun and knowing that other parents were struggling with bed time, dinner time, tantrums in public, just knowing that I wasn’t alone in finding a way to laugh about it.”

6 months in to her anonymous efforts of tweeting like a toddler, Laditan was approached by an agent in New York asking “would you be interested in writing a book?”

“I totally freaked out. I’ve wanted to write and be a writer,” she says remembering those breastfeeding/writing nights 5 years earlier. “So to get this email I was like ‘Of course, yes, !’ll write the proposal!'”

It’s National Sibling Day so take a moment to imagine the person you could have been had your parents’ attention not been divided.

— Honest Toddler (@HonestToddler) April 10, 2014

But before she could even finish the proposal, an editor from The Orion Publishing Group in the UK said they were interested. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect. The letter from the agent was just to start the pitching process, it didn’t mean Laditan would get a book deal just that the agent was willing to help her get a book deal.

When the UK deal landed on her desk she had just started to look for a school for her 6 yr old. It was more expensive than they could afford and she was doing everything she could to make extra money. As it happened, she had just lost her biggest social media account and with it 70% of her income.

Things were so desperate she looked at her violin and was thinking to sell it to pay for her daughter’s school. This was an instrument Laditan had played since she was 9. Her dad, always good to spot a bargain, had bought it an an auction for $100. It was easily worth $8000. Laditan thought she could sell it and scrape enough money for a year of her daughter’s tuition. But as she went to sell the treasured instrument, she was getting offers 1/10th that amount. “Maybe they could smell my desperation,” she lamented.

She didn’t sell the violin. She couldn’t do it. It was the week before her daughter’s first tuition payment was due and she opened the email from her agent.

Not only was The Orion Publishing Group interested, they were offering of a $100 000 advance.

“I couldn’t breathe,” she smiled. “I kept emailing her [the agent] in all caps ‘WHAT? ARE YOU SERIOUS?!'”

Used a chair. Got into the pantry. Feasted on chocolate chips. 🙂 #YOLO

— Honest Toddler (@HonestToddler) June 21, 2012

Last year, just a year from that May 1 tweet about her daughter’s potty abilities, The Honest Toddler: A Child’s Guide To Parenting was published in the UK. Then deals for the US and Australia followed. This week, the paperback arrives in North America.

Then there is the tv deal. After the book deal was made, but before it was published, Laditan was approached by Darren Star‘s [Sex and the City, Beverly Hills 90210] production company to option the rights to create a show based on the works of @HonestToddler. Treatments are being polished, meetings are being taken.

There is a part of the Honest Toddler story we skipped. Jessica Alba‘s The Honest Company and Laditan went back and forth with lawyers over who actually owned the Honest label. After much haggling, the matter was finally put to rest last December.

Don’t expect Honest Toddler to be slowing down anytime soon. Laditan and her husband had a 3rd child, a boy, and he is just entering those most excellent toddling years. There’s a lot more material to come.

The Honest Toddler: A Child’s Guide To Parenting by Bunmi Laditan is now available in paperback. If you want yours signed, Laditan can make it happen.

Bunmi is a mom, writer, lover of Soco and diet 7UP, and spends too much on Huggies Overnights. She doesn't Pin or Instagram because ain't nobody got time for that shit. She serves a lot of frozen foods for dinner and is probably the last person still buying canned vegetables. She is also author of the hilarious Toddlers Are A**holes: It's Not Your Fault, which is an absolute MUST if you have, have ever had or will ever have a toddler.

Her name is Bunmi Laditan. As recently as a week ago, the author of the forthcoming Honest Toddler: A Child’s Guide to Parenting was “anonymous.” But now the book cover (above, from Amazon) shows that HT is “written under the supervision of Bunmi Laditan.” Awesome. I’ve been curious about this since reading HT, as have hundreds of thousands of others. Here is her bio from the HT Google Books page:

BUNMI LADITAN started her first media company at age eighteen. Soon after, she launched and sold a social networking site geared toward moms and began a social media agency, working with Fortune 500 companies. She is a regular contributor to The Huffington Post, Mothering and iVillage.com, where her satirical pieces on parenting and politics have often gone viral. In May 2012, she created The Honest Toddler, a character based on her youngest child. She lives with her family near Montreal.

Love it. It looks like she’s just started her own blog, too, which I plan to read regularly. See, too, if you notice another difference in the cover above compared to what was on Amazon when I posted here.

I’ll be reviewing the book as soon as it comes out. Read much more about it (including the table of contents) here at HT’s blog.

Bunmi, thank you. Thank you for HT and for the laughter that little toddler has brought. You live far away, but if you ever want to bring HT over for a play-date, our 2-year-old will be happy to lead an expedition to the beach… or to the fridge.

Laditan’s novel will strike a hysterical and compassionate chord with new moms. Once upon a time, Ashley Keller knew what eight hours of sleep was. Now, she’s an exhausted stay-at-home mom to her eight-month-old daughter, Aubrey, while her husband, David, builds his dream advertising agency. When mommy blogger extraordinaire (and Ashley’s personal guru) Emily Walker announces a contest alongside her new book, Motherhood Better, Ashley is thrilled to be chosen to participate in the “Motherhood Better Bootcamp.” Ashley’s desperate to become the dream mom she had always fantasized she would be. Satirizing the unrealistic expectations that society places on mothers to be one and all, Laditan hits the high mark for hilarity and humanity. While at times ungrateful about her life, Ashley still manages to recognize the precious gift she’s been given in Aubrey and the moments of pure love amid the chaos. Laditan writes with a comic gift, giving readers a hilarious send-up of mommy culture in today’s world.

Guys, I finally did it! I read an entire grown-up book, all by myself! This is the first novel I’ve completed since my four year old was a newborn and I binge-read the Game of Thrones series on my iPad while midnight nursing. And since Bunmi Laditan’s book, Confessions of a Domestic Failure, just happens to be about a stay-at-home mom who tries to be everything and succeeds at nothing, I knew I had to write an honest review for you all.

I have seen some of Bunmi’s more popular Facebook posts and think she’s hilarious, and I really like how she’s original and relatable at the same time. So I thought to support her novel and bought a copy when it was released a few weeks ago. I selflessly sacrificed my naptime workouts to read this book, and easily finished it in just a few days.

You quickly start agreeing with the voice of Ashley Keller, who’s the protagonist of Confessions of a Domestic Failure (and essentially the failure in the title): a knight in shining armor for SAHMs everywhere, if your knight smells like yogurt and has no idea what she’s doing most of the time. Ashley was a lawyer before having her daughter, who is now about eight months old. Our heroine wanders through her days (and nights) in aged yoga pants, coffee in hand.

Reading-wise, Confessions of a Domestic Failure makes you laugh and it’s easy to get through. The flow works well and there isn’t any confusion about what’s going on or whose perspective we’re getting.

I was surprised about a third of the way though the book, because I got upset. This funny book made me upset at the obstacles Ashley faces – like a workaholic husband who is no help, or feeling isolated because she has no mom friends… And I also got upset at how many Sanctimommies Ashley interacted with. I wanted to jump in the book and encourage her, or be a friend for her to talk to.

I was surprised about something else, though. This book honestly made me upset and sad about things I didn’t have, moments that I’ve taken for granted and are now gone, and things people don’t do for me. (That sounds hellishly selfish, but it’s true and I feel compelled to tell you so.) It’s almost like once I got into the guts of the book, parts of it were too real. And I discovered raw, unhealed wounds within myself.

I ugly cried when reading this book, y’all. On the floor of my bedroom. Into my bowl of gummy bears. More than once.

And I totally wasn’t expecting that.

So I put the book down for a day or two, and returned once I’d gotten those regretful, ugly feelings out of my system. Because I had to know what happened to Ashley!

Here was the first “real” serious moment I had with Ashley as she battled the difficulty of motherhood in her mind:

“Is this what motherhood is going to be like? Spending all day dreaming of getting a break and then, when it comes, wanting nothing more than to be with Aubrey?

I felt dread wash over me. I’d never be content again, would I? I love Aubrey more than I’ve ever loved anything or anyone, but when I’m with her, I feel smothered. And when I’m not with her, I feel incomplete, like a piece of me is missing.

How do other moms do it?”

Ashley deals with lots of issues that we as moms are all too aware of: things like guilt from not breastfeeding (or shame from breastfeeding in public); the ridiculously unrealistic expectations that if the house isn’t clean and dinner isn’t made, then you “just didn’t do anything today”; the equally ridiculous and unrealistic expectation that a mom should immediately be physically perfect, and all the baby weight (and hair loss, and acne, and brittle nails, and stretch marks) should instantly disappear; the judgment from everyone in your life that you’re screwing up your kid, coming from your darling mother-in-law or a stranger at the park.

We. Have. All. Been. There.

And as much as it sucks to see a (fictitious) character go through the same struggles all of us moms go through, it’s also refreshing to feel a little less alone on this ocean of motherhood. Knowing that I’m not the only one adrift in the Sea of Shame makes me feel a little bit better.

“I may not have been alone, but I was lonely. Very lonely… All I kept hearing from everyone… is how lucky I was to be a stay-at-home mom, but I wondered, if people knew how much time I spent by myself, whether they’d still say that.”

It’s also great to see that Ashley isn’t perfect. This is not a story about the mother who is glamorous or gets her nails done or can afford a celebrity trainer. She’s realistic. We read about her post-baby pooch, her crusty yoga pants, her messy cabinets and closets. She reminds us again of what “real life” looks like from a stay-at-home mother’s perspective.

And in the end, it’s a call to action. Us moms must keep each other from feeling like crap all the time. We can’t expect the media (ha), our neighbors (haha), or our government (hahaha) to make us feel validated and unified. It’s up to us, the fellow moms in our community. See the issues in your life, and with the other moms, and do something about it damnit.

“You know what really surprised me about motherhood? The slow realization that mothers aren’t anything I thought they were to each other. I thought once you entered the mommy club they brought you into the fold with open arms. Look guys, my vagina/stomach/overall body got torn up just like yours and I’m pushing a stroller here, we’re all going to be best friends, right? No. Maybe it was naive of me to think that just because we shared the experience of never feeling rested that we’d be blood sisters for life, but I wanted that. I needed that.”

I do think that the last 20 or so pages of Confessions of a Domestic Failure started to get a little unrealistic as the narrative wrapped up. No spoiler alerts here, but pretty much all of the risen conflicts get tied up nicely; I almost wish that one or two things didn’t end so well, just to make us sympathize with Ashley and to make it seem more “real life.”

I also would hesitate to loan this book to any mom who works – I would never want to make them jealous or sad because they can’t stay at home with their kids. This may just be me overanalyzing, but I’m not sure how a working mom or non-mom would feel about it.

Overall, this book is a fantastic read for any stay-at-home mom. There are so many “I know, right?!” moments that unite us, from unending laundry to feeling like a lesser person because we don’t bring in money. Ashley is smart and comical but she also has real flaws like we all do: nappy hair, ill-fitting clothes, stretch marks. She’s all of us.

Well, where do I start with this unbelievably entertaining, hilariously funny and realistic novel, other than to state that I loved it!

Meet Ashley, married to the love of her life David and a first-time mum to Aubrey, her adorable eight-month-old girl. Ashley envisaged what being a stay-at-home mom would look like - her daughter sleeping through the night, regaining her pre-baby body while becoming a Pinterest perfect mother who grows her own produce, makes clothes for her precious child from organic materials, while becoming a pillar of her new mommy tribe community, and keeping her house looking like a castle at the same time. So when reality rudely intrudes on her fantasy of being the perfect mother, Ashley finds herself lonely and anchorless in this new world of parenthood - nobody told her about the exhaustion, the mountains of laundry and everyday tasks that become insurmountable, the fact that you wear the same pair of leggings for a week, or the need for adult conversation. So when mommy blogger extraordinaire, Emily, runs a competition to turn you into the mother you were born to be, Ashley jumps at the chance to take part and throws herself into the competition with hilarious, and often disastrous consequences around every turn.

CONFESSIONS OF A DOMESTIC FAILURE by Bunmi Laditan is a must-read for every parent, or soon to be parent out there, and I devoured this fantastic novel from beginning to end in no time at all. In today's social media world where it seems that everybody else has their sh*t together and are more than willing to comment on other's decisions, this novel is the smackdown of reality that is more than needed. Ashley can be annoying at times, but as we travel through her journey of parenthood, there really is something for everyone in her character - the overwhelming love she feels for her little girl, the need to be the best mom that she can be, the desperation that she is making a mess of it, the yearning for adult communication, the mommy guilt, and more. And it is all topped up with Bunmi Laditan's flare and sass, that will make you laugh and well up at the same time. CONFESSIONS OF A DOMESTIC FAILURE by Bunmi Laditan is the ultimate story of motherhood and love, and I cannot recommend it highly enough!!!

Social media humorist Laditan's fiction debut is cute and funny, and will strike a chord with moms everywhere. Ashley is totally relatable, and her exploits could be those of nearly any woman who strives to be "as good as" everyone else. The book takes much too long to get past the phase of Ashley not measuring up to everyone around her, which makes the tale more depressing than it should be. Overall it's a worthwhile read for every mom who feels like a failure and needs to know she's not alone.

When Ashley Keller stepped away from her career to be a stay-at-home mom to her daughter Aubrey, she didn't realize it would be quite as difficult as it turns out to be. Her days are exhausting, and although she adores Aubrey, Ashley feels like she cannot figure out how to pull it together. Ashley's idol is mom-blogger/author/perfect mom and wife Emily Walker. Ashley tries to emulate Emily, and is excited to find out she is accepted into a "Mommy Boot Camp" run by Emily to help improve her skills. Yet again, Ashley doesn't feel like she does things as well as everyone else, but she is going to try, even if it means sacrificing her principles just a bit.

Ashley Keller is just trying to get by as a stay-at-home mom to her eight-month-old daughter. Ashley hates cooking, crafting, Instagramming, and (particularly) Pinterest, so she is lonely and left feeling like a failure as a mom. When her “momspiration,” Emily Walker—mom of five, blogger extraordinaire, and TV-show host—offers Motherhood Better, a six-week boot-camp challenge to become a better mom, Ashley can’t help but apply. Thus begins her quest to be crafty, popular, and perfect. Laditan does not disappoint in her debut fiction novel that is chock full of laugh-out-loud moments that moms everywhere will relate to. Laditan keeps the story flowing as Ashley tries with all of her might to move herself up the mom ladder, from lying to her La Lait group about breastfeeding, to mooning the contestants of the boot camp on their first video chat, to staking out her babysitter (and getting picked up by the police), to doing a brief stint as a phone-sex operator. Readers will fall in love with Ashley and all of her flaws quicker than they can click like on an Instagram pic. Perfect for readers looking for a funny, realistic look at motherhood.

This book came out at such a great time - close to Mother's Day when many Mom's are about ready for their special day of celebration (whatever that looks like for them). I highly suggest getting a copy for your Mom friends and sisters (you know, if you have any). This book and the main character, Ashley, will have you laughing out loud one minute, nodding with agreement and crying with understanding the next. It's everything a first time Mom could want in a book to make them feel like they are not the only hot mess out there. Here's the deal - I love how this book takes a Mom who idolizes a perfect media empire Mom and teaches her that not everything is at it seems, not everyone has to live up to unrealistic expectations. I love that Ashley keeps trying to better herself, but in the end realizes life is messy. I love that she struggles with the everyday just like most of us do. I think this made her such an easy to relate to character for me. Confessions of a Domestic Failure nailed it with the hilarious situations that Ashley gets herself into, while trying to live up to the hype and expectations of the perfect Mom. I think after reading this book you'll realize, much like Ashley, that it's not necessary to be do Pinterest-perfect crafts, make homemade meals and baby food, or throw yourself to the wolves Mommy Group Goddesses for approval - just to be a good and capable mother. I think there is an unwritten pressure to be something we're not and this book gives you the okay to realize we're not all like that. It's okay to be tired, to be so in love with your baby that chores slide, and to enjoy motherhood without added expectations that we be just like everyone else. The relationships that Ashley has with her husband, her mother in law and her own sister help make her feel authentic. Honestly, I want to be Ashley's friend. We could start our own Mommy group where we wear day old yoga pants, our babies are still in yesterdays sleepers and we eat donuts for the sugar rush (I don't drink coffee) and share horror stories about answering the door with no pants on or baby puking in the Walmart checkout line. This would be my tribe! And since the book is called Confessions of a Domestic Failure, here are a few of my confessions. 1. Some days we don't get out of our jammies. Neither of us. If we are not going anywhere and no one is coming to visit, who is it really hurting? 2. I generally don't do the dishes until just before my husband comes home from work. I'm saving hot water by only filling the sink once! 3. There are days that I wish we had a dog, only so that it could eat the food my daughter tosses on the floor at each meal and then I wouldn't have to sweep/mop daily. I like dogs, but never really want to own one (I'm a cat person), yet I'm tempted on days that she tosses everything off her high chair.

Ashley Keller, career and now full time stay at home mom, is trying to navigate new motherhood and live up to the usual crazy standards of what mother’s are “supposed to be”, and failing miserably at it. When she finally get s a chance to go into a Mommy boot camp, she jumps at it and decides to try to be the best mom she can be. Can she do it?

I enjoyed this book. Sure, maybe it has to do something with the fact I have an 11 month old myself, but Confessions of a Domestic Failure really hit a note with me. Laditan’s sharp narrative about society’s, and other mom’s pressures, in becoming and portraying the perfect mom especially on social media, was both hilarious and very very true. There were a lot of times I laughed out loud, finding my own crazy thoughts had at one time mirrored poor Ashley.

I loved the comments about breast feeding vs. formula, cleaning the house, trying to make mom friends and just the general pressure that society puts on today’s moms to get back in shape, get back to the job, look fabulous and be the most stellar mom. I have a mommy & me group that I’m going to recommend this book to because I think they will love it. We’re all first time mom’s and Ashley, I know you’re fictional, but let me tell you something – you’re not alone! Though let’s face it, Ashley is on the extreme side. Which I loved.

That said, I do wish that Ashley did enjoy a lot more of motherhood through the book. I felt like it was a little off balance because yes, there are crazy obstacles and challenges that we don’t ever see coming and that no one told us about, but at the same time, there’s overwhelming joy and love and I feel like that could have been a little stronger in the book. Also, the book seemed a little long in that it took Ashley so long to get it together (kinda). It was all entertaining, but about half way, I was thinking – come on. It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion.

Overall, I’m going to recommend this to every mom I know. Because we’ve all been there!