What Every Mom Needs: Balancing Your Life

A great book for the woman who feels like her only identity and purpose in life is to be a "Mom" and has forgotten her own name. This book encourages women to cultivate their own interests (again) and encourages women to make time for themselves, because one must be refreshed in order to refresh others. This book lets you know that you are not the alone in your struggles of parenthood, and that it's fine not to be the perfect "super mommy". For readers who are turned off by the "evangelizing" in the book I have a few things to say to you: NO ONE FORCED YOU TO READ THIS BOOK. Don't be turned off by the writers' use of Biblical principles. They're only suggesting that you get into the Bible and become a better person. They're showing you a way to make your life easier, based upon their own (and countless other THOUSANDS of other women's) experiences. [...]

I purchased this book when my kids were preschoolers and I was struggling to find my place as a new mom. This book was a heaping dose of medicine to me that revealed that I wasn't alone in the emotional turmoil of the mothering role. It doesn't given parenting advice, but speaks to the hearts of mothers as individuals. It gives helpful building block ideas to help one to form a personal checklist and keep emotional and parenting health in check. I purchased about 20 more copies to sell in my ladies group since I felt there were so many new moms that would benefit from this. They all went! It's a keeper for me.

If you are a mom and are struggling with your new role and how to adjust, this book is for you!! It is funny, compassionate, and well-written. I love the realistic quotes from other moms as well as the inspiring ones from other books. Reading this reminds me that I do have a very important job and that I am important to my family. Buy this book!

. . .Author Deborah Lewis once said that while the early years of your children's lives go by quicker than you think, there are some individual days that seem to go on forever. For those days and those times, this book is just what you need. It's very, very easy to read--you can usually get through a chapter in just a few minutes after your child is finally down for the night, or just before you finally get to bed yourself. This is usually the one I've reached for after a day with my daughter where one or both of us were not as noble or Christlike toward one another as we maybe should be. And I always come away with something that I try out to make tomorrow better. It deals in very plain, simple prose with how tough it can be to get your own needs met in the midst of diapers, messy floors, and emergencies. But then it takes things one step further. You won't find any "magazine article perfect" advice here--just simple-but-effective steps you can take toward keeping your dreams alive, finding the support you need to go on, managing the load, and feeling good about your choice to become a mother. You will not feel talked down to here--in fact, you'll say, "oh, man, that's JUST how I feel right now" and "I'm NOT the only woman who feels this way." And the ideas for taking action are great--they realize that these are not the years to just totally make over your life, but that, just as learning to walk is a cumulative process for your kids, little steps toward your own self-improvement really do add up. Two other things that made have made this book a real winner as far as I'm concerned: First of all, Elisa and Carol give very generous credit to their sources, including an appendix with footnotes, and a "for further reading" list at the end of each chapter. What I especially liked about this was that they did not limit their research to Christian authors and sources. Thanks to them, I rediscovered Barbara Sher's book "Wishcraft" and as a result of digging through HER book, have more or less rekindled some dreams of my own. So, I feel as if I owe Elisa and Carol as much a debt of gratitude as I do Barbara. Isn't that cool? And secondly, they emphasize very strongly that all moms need to look out for each other--none of this "mommy war" stuff between women who work outside the home and women who are spending a season at home. And I do have to agree with the other reviewer about this book making a great shower gift. I heartily recommend that this be given to a new or expectant mom, along with a gift certificate for a free night of babysitting. You'll definitely get that mom's prize for best present!

"What every Mom needs..." is just wonderful. I am a mother of older children and enjoyed it tremendously! I plan to give this book as a baby shower present for years to come. My daughter will inherit my copy.