****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I absolutely love this author. Thank you Sheila for how well you articulate the issues that mothers face! This book needs to be recommended to moms "in the trenches" with toddlers and young children at home. I would say it is more geared to the stay-at-home mom that feels burdened under chores, home responsibilities, and childcare. This is in NO way to say that my working mom friends do not deal with these issues (they are double-burdened with other responsibilities from the workplace AND home duties) but I think this book is meant to be more easily understood by a SAHM who has little to no adult interaction during the day, who feels like sweeping cheerios up twice a day and scrubbing poop stains off the carpet, are all she has to look forward to. Sheila has been both a working mom and a stay-at-home mom, so I think she provides some great balance from different viewpoints. But this book is certainly geared toward a mom who feels she is relegated ONLY to washing endless loads of laundry, cleaning up chicken nugget crumbs embedded in the van, wiping off greasy smudge prints on the glass door (for the tenth time), and dealing with the fact that you pretty much have no one who can help you through it (like, no grandparents who live close by, a babysitter, a friend who can watch your kid for a few hours each day, etc.) Even if you don't struggle with ALL of these issues, it is so beneficial to read. I have been a stay-at-home mom for five years and have 3 young children. The things in this book have been so helpful to me!I was cracking up when she wrote, "Sometimes I think we demand too much of ourselves, thinking that good parenting involves climbing into the sandbox. There's nothing wrong with that, but that may not be who you are. But if you involve them where you can, where it's more natural for you, as often as you can, then they won't feel abandoned if you make them play by themselves at times." (p. 143) She makes you not feel guilty for being super into playing with your kids. That's not to say you shouldn't play with your kids...or involve them in your life. That's not right. But sometimes I feel like a bad mom because I'm not on the floor playing legos for 2 hours with my boy. Where on earth did that thought come from anyway? Sheila discusses what moms back in the "olden days" dealt with and how some of our modern-day problems and guilt trips are both similar to what women dealt with decades, even hundreds of years ago. It really is an insightful book that offers a lot of much-needed perspective. Definitely recommend.
