When Did I Get Like This?: The Screamer, the Worrier, the Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget-Buyer, and Other Mothers I Swore I’d Never Be

“Amy Wilson’s hilarious, tender memoir…had me laughing out loud with recognition. She captures the small moments of motherhood in a way that is both funny and thought-provoking.”
—Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

From the creator and star of the one-woman off-Broadway show Mother Load, comes When Did I Get Like This?, a screamingly funny take on being a modern woman, wife, and mother told with “a level of hilarity that even non-moms can appreciate” (Time Out). Amy Wilson’s poignant and provocative, utterly outrageous look at “the Screamer, the Worrier, the Dinosaur-Chicken-Nugget-Buyer, and Other Mothers I Swore I’d Never Be” has already earned an appreciative response from Three-Martini Playdate author Christie Mellor, who calls it, “As entertaining as it is reassuring.”

What kind of mother feeds her kids dinosaur chicken nuggets . . . three times a week? What kind of mother lets hand washing slide after using the toilet, as long as it was just Number One?

When Did I Get Like This?

“Like Annie Hall wearing a nursing bra!” - New York Times (on the stage play)

“Amy Wilson’s hilarious, tender memoir of all the ways her children drive her crazy--and she drives herself crazy--had me laughing out loud with recognition. She captures the small moments of motherhood in a way that is both funny and thought-provoking.” - Gretchen Rubin, author of The Happiness Project

“Amy Wilson is the kind of mom with whom I’d like to have a cocktail, preferably a stiff one at the end of a long day of playground runs. Wise, feeling and gut-bustingly funny, When Did I Get Like This? is What to Expect You’re Expecting for moms you’d actually like as friends.” - Amy Sohn, author of Prospect Park West

“There’s that moment-- and more likely, a lot of moments-- when you look at yourself and your life and you think, ‘When, oh WHEN, did I get like this?’ And that’s when you need to pick up Amy Wilson’s book... and lock yourself in the bathroom and read it and try not to let the kids hear you laughing... Wilson nails it... I laughed so hard I cried.” - SheKnows.com

“Funny, smart and insightful, When Did I Get Like This? is ultimately about embracing the messy, complicated, and impossible-to-plan-for moments of motherhood and experiencing it for the adventure it really is. In this age when mothers are constantly bombarded with unrealistic expectations of perfection, Amy Wilson’s voice rings real and true.” - Sara Ellington, author of The Must-Have Mom Manual and The Mommy Chronicles

“Reading Amy Wilson’s book is like meeting your favorite new mom friend: She’s whip-smart, charming, enviably capable but as self-doubting as the rest of us, and very, very funny.” - Pamela Paul, author of Parenting, Inc.

“An honest, personal, and often hilarious collection of short, beautifully written chapters. As entertaining as it is reassuring.” - Christie Mellor, author of The Three-Martini Playdate

“Wilson’s got a light comic touch, but also traffics unflinchingly in the gross and the sad.” - Entertainment Weekly

“When Did I Get Like This? is a funny, heartwarming account by [a] frazzled young mother of three. This book will help [new mothers] remember that the worst day with children is better than the best day without them.” - The Washington Post