Every parent needs a place to retreat and recharge. At home, that place might be your bathroom (if your kids let you keep the door closed) or your minivan (after your kids have gotten out). But online, that place can be right here.
The mission of this site is to help you laugh when parenthood makes you want to cry. Through stories, memes, podcast episodes and more, we highlight the absurdity of parenthood so you know you aren’t alone. You can laugh without feeling guilty.
What does ParentNormal mean?
The Short History
The ParentNormal started when Chris Cate began sharing his thoughts about the absurdity of parenthood on Twitter. Ten years and three total kids later, The ParentNormal has more than 100,000 followers on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
The biggest step in the growth of The ParentNormal was the launch of The ParentNormal Comedy Podcast, which evolved into Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast in 2019. The show breaks down a different part of parenthood every week with a focus on proving nobody is a perfect parent.
Listen to Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google and Spotify.
Along the way, two novelty books have been published. The first book is The ParentNormal Crash Course, which features some of @ParentNormal’s most popular tweets tweaked into things you need to know during the first three years of parenthood. The other book is Perfect Parenting: A Complete History. It might be the shortest book you ever read because, despite the 40 chapters, it’s empty of any examples of perfect parenting. You can get both of these books for only $5 on Amazon by clicking one of the books below:
Humor
Humor is at the heart of The ParentNormal’s breakdown of parenthood. In addition to The ParentNormal’s own platform, Chris’ observations about parenthood have appeared in Reader’s Digest, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, BuzzFeed, Scary Mommy, HuffPost Parents and many other national outlets. Here are a few samples:
- McSweeney’s Internet Tendency
- Scary Mommy
- Huffington Post
- BuzzFeed
While humor is my forte, I’ve also opened up about the serious realities of parenthood. Here is a piece I wrote for the Washington Post about our family’s miscarriage:
- Washington Post
Partnerships
The ParentNormal has worked with dozens of brands on influencer campaigns. If you would like to partner with The ParentNormal on a campaign, contact Chris Cate at Chris@ParentNormal.com. Here are just a few of the brands who have worked with The ParentNormal:
About Chris Cate
Chris Cate is a father of three (ages 10, 8 & 5), writer, podcaster and social media influencer. In the past, he has been a high school teacher, sports reporter for CBS in Birmingham and a spokesperson for the Governor of Florida.
Chris has been featured on the HuffPost’s weekly list of funniest parents on Twitter more than 125 times and been recognized for his parenting humor on BuzzFeed, Reader’s Digest, The A.V. Club, Disney’s Babble, Scary Mommy, TODAY Parents and many other parenting sites. He is also a regular contributor of parenting humor to HuffPost, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Scary Mommy, Cafe Mom and several other parenting sites.
Chris also hosts Breaking Down Parenting: A ParentNormal Podcast, a weekly podcast to help parents laugh when they want to cry. Guests have included well-known parents such as Dave Barry, Lisa Loeb, Jeff Kinney (Diary of a Wimpy Kid), Jeannie Gaffigan (co-writer of the Jim Gaffigan Show), Arianna Huffington and Go the F* to Sleep author Adam Mansbach.
Contact
I enjoy hearing from readers, listeners and even (especially) advertisers. If you have a funny story or idea for my website or podcast, you can email me at Chris@ParentNormal.com. Publicists are also welcome to email me if you want to recommend a guest to be on the podcast.
Everybody can follow me on twitter @ChrisCate. But make sure to also follow The ParentNormal on Twitter at @ParentNormal, on Facebook at The ParentNormal and on Instagram at @ParentNormal.
