From the time I can remember, all I wanted to do was be a mom. In Kindergarten, when we were told to draw a picture of ourselves when we were grown up, I drew a picture of myself with 10 children.
Imagine my surprise when it turned out I sucked at this mothering thing! As a child I felt that my mom could do anything, so I, for whatever reason, anticipated being just as capable when I was a mother. No dice. My mom spent lots of time with us, while still making sure we learned to be independent. She cooked fairly well rounded meals everyday, kept her house clean, and knew how to do EVERYTHING! I spend lots of time with my kids, but in all honesty it is sometimes more out of obligation than desire. Everyday I try to figure out how I can get Michael to order pizza or let sandwiches count as dinner. My house is a mess. I yell to much. And I just am not that great at most things.
Everyone else seems to have a handle on mothering, and I barely coast by. I give myself excuses, like jumping from having no kids to four kids in two years, including elementary aged children. Or the near constant restructuring of our family (20+ children in and out of our house in 3 years). I hope they are valid, and if our life ever stabilizes I will get hold of things, but in all reality, I have never experienced "normal parenting", so they might just be empty excuses. I really, really hope not.
(un)Natural Mom felt like it was written just for me. Hettie Brittz starts by opening up with some of her most epic fails as a parent. It was relieving to read that someone else felt as out of her depth in parenting as I do. She then has a chapter about some of the myths of natural parenting that she believes are the most burdensome on mothers.
If you read this book, you should take the Tall Trees (un)Natural Mother Parenting Profile, which will give you a parenting type to focus on in the book. This is free. You can take it without the book, but you will have to pay $20 for the detailed result. If you get the book, then take the profile test, you get a 50% discount, if you want to purchase the detailed report, or you can just use the information in the book. Even without taking the quiz, you can read through the descriptions of the different types of mothers and figure out which type or types you are.
When I started reading through the chapters about specific "mom types" it was so wonderful to read about someone that was so much like me. Best of all, it pointed out the good parts of my "mom type". As a Boxwood Mom, it can be really easy for me to see the negatives, and a lot harder for me to see the positives.
Each chapter has some reflection questions, and ways that God can work your "mom type" for good for your children. Although it is clearly a Christian book, which I appreciate, I am 100% certain that people of other faiths, or no faith at all, can gain a lot of insight into themselves by reading this book.
Honestly, I can't say enough good things about this book. It is something I will go back and reread parts of for years to come. In the world we live in, where it is so easy to share only the "best of..." pieces of our lives, it is a refreshing reminder that everyone has faults, not everyone is a natural at everything, and everyone has good qualities as well.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review, from LitFuse.
Imagine my surprise when it turned out I sucked at this mothering thing! As a child I felt that my mom could do anything, so I, for whatever reason, anticipated being just as capable when I was a mother. No dice. My mom spent lots of time with us, while still making sure we learned to be independent. She cooked fairly well rounded meals everyday, kept her house clean, and knew how to do EVERYTHING! I spend lots of time with my kids, but in all honesty it is sometimes more out of obligation than desire. Everyday I try to figure out how I can get Michael to order pizza or let sandwiches count as dinner. My house is a mess. I yell to much. And I just am not that great at most things.
Everyone else seems to have a handle on mothering, and I barely coast by. I give myself excuses, like jumping from having no kids to four kids in two years, including elementary aged children. Or the near constant restructuring of our family (20+ children in and out of our house in 3 years). I hope they are valid, and if our life ever stabilizes I will get hold of things, but in all reality, I have never experienced "normal parenting", so they might just be empty excuses. I really, really hope not.
(un)Natural Mom felt like it was written just for me. Hettie Brittz starts by opening up with some of her most epic fails as a parent. It was relieving to read that someone else felt as out of her depth in parenting as I do. She then has a chapter about some of the myths of natural parenting that she believes are the most burdensome on mothers.
If you read this book, you should take the Tall Trees (un)Natural Mother Parenting Profile, which will give you a parenting type to focus on in the book. This is free. You can take it without the book, but you will have to pay $20 for the detailed result. If you get the book, then take the profile test, you get a 50% discount, if you want to purchase the detailed report, or you can just use the information in the book. Even without taking the quiz, you can read through the descriptions of the different types of mothers and figure out which type or types you are.
When I started reading through the chapters about specific "mom types" it was so wonderful to read about someone that was so much like me. Best of all, it pointed out the good parts of my "mom type". As a Boxwood Mom, it can be really easy for me to see the negatives, and a lot harder for me to see the positives.
Each chapter has some reflection questions, and ways that God can work your "mom type" for good for your children. Although it is clearly a Christian book, which I appreciate, I am 100% certain that people of other faiths, or no faith at all, can gain a lot of insight into themselves by reading this book.
Honestly, I can't say enough good things about this book. It is something I will go back and reread parts of for years to come. In the world we live in, where it is so easy to share only the "best of..." pieces of our lives, it is a refreshing reminder that everyone has faults, not everyone is a natural at everything, and everyone has good qualities as well.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review, from LitFuse.
Sounds like me! I only have 2 constant children, and a small home and my house is regularly a wreck. I yell and get irritated too much and sometimes spending time with my kids is not what I want to be doing. I rarely feel like I've got it all together.
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