Mommy Guilt: Learn to Worry Less, Focus on What Matters Most, and Raise Happier Kids - Softcover

Julie Bort; Aviva Pflock; Devra Renner

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0814408702 ISBN 13: 9780814408704

Publisher: AMACOM, 2005

Synopsis

"Parents today try too hard to be superhuman, often sacrificing their own well-being -- and relationships with friends, family, even their spouses -- to meet the ever-increasing demands of their children's lives. Of course, such efforts inevitably fall short, and parents blame themselves. Mommy Guilt encourages parents to let go of unobtainable (and ill-advised) goals in favor of parenting philosophies that concentrate on the whole family. This eye-opening book presents the results of an original, never-before-published nationwide survey of over 1,300 parents -- 96% of whom reported they felt guilty about some aspect of parenting. The most common include yelling, family time, work choices, school, and sports. Mommy Guilt offers straightforward principles for handling these and many other common issues -- as well as for dealing with everyday challenges that frequently add up to feelings of guilt. Through practical, tried-and-true tips, anecdotes, quizzes, and worksheets, Mommy Guilt illustrates how moms can fend off the guilt and focus on what really matters."

About this title

Review:

Mommy Guilt looks like it might be one of the new breed of literate mother essay books, the kind in which writers wittily divulge those moments in which they weren't, well, perfect moms. Rather than a collection of essays, Mommy Guilt is a self-help book that aims to guide the time-deprived and stressed mom into parenting with her heart rather than her children's soccer schedule. Some techniques – singing show tunes to your recalcitrant middle schooler, for instance – seem less likely than others, and the book finds its greatest successes in the more no-nonsense advice handed down by the three authors, all of whom have raised children of their own.

What makes Mommy Guiltinteresting on a social anthropology level is that it weaves in experiences of real moms who responded to the authors' survey on mothering issues at a range of age levels and situations. The survey questions are included in the back of the book, along with a helpful reference guide for situations ranging from how to handle tantrums in public to how to pick the right preschool. If the writing is sometimes precocious, its intent is to make mothers let go of the guilt that causes them to enjoy parenting less than they might otherwise, a sort of light-hearted literary jibe at how seriously moms can take the steady collection of dust bunnies and laundry piles over their children's (and their own) emotional well-being. One of the book's more unique features is a section on how to sustain a relationship with one's spouse, something that any parent, but particularly new or first-time parents, would find useful. – Megan Halverson

From the Inside Flap:

Have you ever felt that to be a good parent, you need to be superhuman? Like millions of parents, you’ve got Mommy Guilt: a feeling that your family is suffering because you can’t do everything.

The authors of Mommy Guilt wanted to know what causes these potentially overwhelming feelings. They performed a thorough survey of more than 1,300 parents, and the results point to many factors, some of the most common being yelling, lack of family time, work choices, and tension over school and extracurricular issues. Mommy Guilt explores these factors and many others and offers seven straightforward principles for turning our hectic, stressed, guilt-inducing ways of life into more nurturing, healthful experiences for ourselves and our families.

"Mommy Guilt is a book whose time has come. The seven principles of the Mommy Guilt-Free Philosophy are clearly and precisely stated and the language empowers moms with children between the ages of two through twelve and even beyond." —Patricia Henderson Shimm, Associate Director, Barnard College Toddler Center; author, Parenting Your Toddler

"Helpful hints and a hopeful message for self-doubting mothers: Get Over It! Guilt is the most useless emotion in the world." —Ann Crittenden, author, The Price of Motherhood and If You've Raised Kids, You Can Manage Anything

"This volume provides overstressed parents with developmentally appropriate guidance, information, and activities, all designed to increase the joys and satisfactions of being a parent in today’s world." —Phyllis M. Cohen, Associate Clinical Professor, Child Study Center, Yale University School of Medicine

Julie Bort is an educator and internationally published journalist with substantial expertise and experience in survey research. She is the mother of two daughters. Aviva Pflock is a certified parent-education and child-development specialist with a focus on early childhood education. She is the mother of two daughters and one son. Devra Renner, MSW, is a clinical social worker who works with children and their families in school, community, home, summer camp, and hospital settings. She is the mother of two sons.

About this edition

• Publisher: AMACOM
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 0814408702
• ISBN 13: 9780814408704
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256