The Stay-At-Home Martyr: A Survival Guide for Having a Life Outside Your Kids

This book is hilarious! Thank god someone finally has the nerve to speak clearly and comically about the life of the stay at home mom. I think this book is absolutely entertaining (got me through a few ballet lessons), and full of great insights into what we grapple with as moms today. Thanks for the great read!

I picked up the Stay-at home Martyr, and amused at the title, was looking forward to some light hearted comedic reading, timely given my new reality of being a stay-at-home mom. What I didn't realize was that this book is packed with some great new parent education tips on how to adjust the style and volume of praise for our kids' every small action so as to promote their independent development and hopefully divert them from a life of feeling entitled and/or being unable to deal with disappointment (see chapter 6!!) I laughed out loud at the many parallels of my own life to the book's humor packed chapters. The whole head-shoulders-knees-toes section so accurately describes my own stay-at-home state of perma-neglect for the past 11 months, I almost wondered if I'd been under observation, but then taking a close look around the grocery store today, I realized that my ponytail wearing, pedicure needing, stained tshirt and old maternity shorts wearing body behind the TJ's cart looks a lot like the state of many other mothers. Reading this, I not only laughed at myself and realized I'm not alone out there, but I decided to stop sinking further into "martyr-dumb", starting right now. The "new-you-glossary" on page 54: its a gem! I found it totally refreshing - and fun- to read this parenting book and pick up tools that combine laughter, self-help, and tips that will help me enable my daughter to become an independent little gal with a creative mind of her own.

I really urge all at home mothers to read this as it supports what we are doing and also illuminates who we need to be to do it best. It is no great mystery that fulfilled women create beautiful examples for their children, but it is wonderful to have it spelled out in a fresh and funny way by two experienced, qualified mothers. There is no rule book on how to be a wonderful parent but loving your child and yourself can never be a bad combination. I found this book funny, candid, insightful and refreshing. It really gave me the boost to continue to be a great at home mom and still pursue the things that make me who I am and want to be. Go moms!

Okay, I'll admit I was a bit surprised when a friend gave me this book. Me, a martyr? No way. She must have been thinking of my mother. But I started reading it and not only did I recognize myself right away, I was hooked! I always worry these books are going to bash Stay at Home Moms, or bash men or both, but this book does neither. It simply tries to show women that there is a way to raise happier, healthier children by being a happier, more well-rounded parent. The authors have clearly been in the trenches raising kids and they never condescend -- on the contrary they're refreshingly self-deprecating. And I'd never admit it to my husband (master of the bad pun) but I even enjoyed the puns in the chapter titles and sub-headings (Mama Sutra, Marty-Dumb). Bottom line, this book is a flat-out fun read with the great common sense kind of wisdom you could only get from a really smart friend who just happened to have a Childhood Development Degree, which one of the authors apparently does. It's not the kind of self-help book where you say to yourself, "Yeah, that makes sense, but I'm never going to be able to follow that advice." Instead, you find yourself excited at the thought of taking a few relatively easy steps to reclaim your life and marriage while helping your kids at the same time.

Who knew it's actually better for your children to get a life of your own? That's what this book explains. It's a lighthearted, comedic view at our inner tendencies to become mommy martyrs, and how it's not good for us or our children. You must have a good sense of humor to read this book and the ability to make fun of yourself.