Honors Alumna Tracy Cutchlow Publishes New Book on Raising Children
Honors alumna Tracy Cutchlow’s two-year-old daughter Geneva “brings a little bit of joy wherever she goes.” Geneva makes her mom laugh by quoting lines from Dr. Seuss’s The Lorax. She makes strangers laugh with cute questions they are more than happy to answer.
Cutchlow’s experiences parenting Geneva, as well as her familiarity with key child development research, inspired her to write a book for busy parents. She had recently edited WSU alumnus John Medina’s Brain Rules for Baby, and was encouraged to write something “based on how (she) was personally applying principles” from Medina’s book. The result is Zero to Five: 70 Essential Parenting Tips Based on Science (and What I’ve Learned So Far), published in June 2014.
“It’s the book I wished I had when I was pregnant,” Cutchlow (’97, Journalism and Honors) says.
Spiral bound to lay flat for easy reading even with baby in your lap, Zero to Five features one tip per page on common parenting perils, such as how to sneak vegetables into a toddler’s diet or how much communication should occur between a parent and their baby (the answer being a lot, especially in the cooing tone many people adopt when talking to babies).
The tips in the book are based on studies Cutchlow pored over in order to create something science-based, yet brief.
“What sets Zero to Five apart is that new parents actually have time to read it,” she explains.
Cutchlow, a former journalist for MSN Money and The Seattle Times, says she approached the book in a fashion similar to her journalism work, starting by combing through the books of various researchers.
“I looked for recurring themes. I paid attention to the things I and other new parents were struggling with…” says Cutchlow. She then “asked top researchers to review the pages related to their expertise and make sure the book was on track.”
Cutchlow’s editing experience, including work on a book called Europe From a Backpack, connected her to an independent publisher in Seattle. Pear Press publishes only one book a year in order to keep their quality of work as high as possible. Zero to Five is the selection for 2014.
Cutchlow says the writing process was challenging at times, noting that “creating is much more difficult than improving.” She learned to juggle the writing time with raising Geneva. The original plan of naptime writing sessions quickly melted away into a reality of babysitters and weekend daddy days to help her meet her writing deadlines.
Thinking back to her time in the WSU Honors College, Cutchlow says the lessons she learned helped keep everything moving forward.
“What’s great about the Honors College is that students are held to a higher standard of excellence,” she says. “People in that situation tend to rise to the occasion.”
Since its release, the book has received high praise from a variety of parenting websites, magazines and blogs, such as Parents Magazine and Momtrends.com, for its ease of use and workable strategies. Cutchlow captures the essence of the book when giving advice to future parents.
“Parenting is going to be harder than you think,” she says. “Much harder. You are going to be stronger than you imagine. Much stronger.”
Jared Brickman, Communications Assistant, WSU Office of Undergraduate Education, 509-335-9458, UCHCCommMar.4@wsu.edu