Lessons from a Default Parent: Surviving the Front Line of Family Life (Without Losing Your Sh*t)

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER – What nobody tells you about parenthood, from one ‘silent partner’ behind the Parenting Hell podcast.

With a brand-new chapter charting the uprising of default parents everywhere!

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'Funny, reflective and honest. Reading this book is like sitting down with your bestie for a proper mumlife debrief’ – Giovanna Fletcher

‘More demanding than ‘hell’, this is parenting purgatory for authentic women who’ve put their lives on hold to be mummy’ – Katherine Ryan

‘A brilliant, comforting and funny read for any default parent’ – Ellie Taylor

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What nobody tells you about parenthood, from one of the ‘silent partners’ behind the Parenting Hell podcast.

School-run coordinator, party planner, clubs organiser, laundry sorter… and maybe even a ‘real’ job on top! Sound exhaustingly familiar?

From assumptions surrounding who is going to stay at home with the kids to the never-ending list of school admin, being ‘the default parent’ rears its head in a plethora of ways.

This book is for all the defaults out there – bored out of their eyeballs or so overwhelmed they could scream expletives into the wind for a solid hour – to know their invisible labour is seen and valued.

With heartfelt and hilarious advice, Lou Beckett provides much-needed comfort and community for the one who is depended on the most (and often feels appreciated the least), and maybe – just maybe – how we can begin to rebalance the parenting scales and muddle through a little better, together.

• Publication date: 24 September 2026
• Page count: 256
• Dimensions: Height 197 mm; Width 128 mm; Thickness 19 mm
• Publisher: Dorling Kindersley Ltd
• Format: Paperback
• ISBN-13: 9780241773598