The Turnaround Mom

In The Turnaround Mom, Carey Sipp digs deep into her past to share her tortured childhood in the home of an alcoholic and violent father. She uses her prodigious insight and considerable writing talents to demonstrate how it is possible to break the cycle of addiction and raise healthy, happy children. You may find yourself trembling as you sit beside her when she was four years old, hiding under the kitchen table during one of her father's alcoholic tirades. But the book offers great comfort by showing that, even under the spell of such powerful influences, victims of family abuse and domestic violence can overcome their pasts and be good role models for their children.

Brilliant, funny and full of tips. Keep it handy so you can pick it up and open it for emergencies -- i.e. when you feel overwhelmed, alone, clueless or hopeless. Though I did not grow up in an alcoholic family I lacked a healthy environment and had no good model of family life. Now as a mom of two teens I look for any and all useful resources. This book is a daily help.

Not in hypothetical but in real, concrete, terms the author talks about her own addictions to things that interfere with her being the loving supportive parent she wishes to be . She sites reasons and background for her own shortcomings but has obviously decided that all of this isn't written in concrete, that with a little thoughtful quiet time for herself and a lot of thinking about what is really important there is time even for a single, working, Mom, to be wholly present in the present with love. The book is never saccharine, is always straightforward about the author's shortcomings, and even for parents who are now grandparents, it's engrossing, delightful, and insightful.

Anyone who was raised in an abusive family atmosphere,whether it was alcoholic related or not, should read The TurnAround Mom. Carey Sipp's frighting journey through childhood, and as a young adult, gave her the insight, experience and courage to write this remarkableroad map to a healthier family life. Sipp gives you all the tools to end once and for all the vicious cycle of abuse that is so often passed from one generation to the next. Her words can really make a difference to anyone or any family ready to turnaround and walk away from alcoholic abuseand it's terrible consequences. America will be a better place to raise happy, healthy children, because of this Mom's determination to make a difference! Bravo Carey Sipp!

The TurnAround Mom is one of the most helpful, practical ACOA books in print. Carey Sipp zeroes in on the painful reality of adulthood; we parent our children with the same dysfunction of our parents unless we teach ourselves differently. Her incredible wordsmithing allows us to go with her as she bravely revisits incidences she experienced growing up with alcoholic/enabler parents. She causes us to remember our own painful experiences as she shares vignettes of the abuse she suffered. But she doesn't leave us there with aching memories; instead, she follows each memory with two more illustrations of how she learned healthier and healthier ways of parenting her own children. The overall message from this book is: I was a victim of my childhood circumstances, but I can choose to make things better for myself and my children. The TurnAround Mom reads like a novel as it teaches us do-able steps toward healthier parenting.