A Review of "I'm a Mom! Now What?"

            I just recently read the book I’m a Mom! Now What? and I feel compelled to give a review to the content contained therein.  There are three particular points that I wish to address:  the first pertains to the content that I assumed would be addressed with a title such as that given; the second involves the various different perspectives that need to be taken into consideration when discussing different parental types and situations that can definitely change any dynamic in the relationship of the mother and child; and the third is whether or not the book would be worth the money.             

       First and foremost I would like to state that the information that is covered is all good information.  However, for me, I felt that a lot of the information seemed redundant compared to all the other books in the market on raising children.  I sincerely enjoyed all the pictures that were used and felt that it definitely helped draw me to pick up the book – but once I started the reading, I realized that there really wasn’t any new information.  Being a younger mother (of three boys now), the majority of the information covered in the book I either received by my pediatrician or another medical associate, by suitable online resources, or by my family.              

       At first glance, when I regarded the title my first reaction was that this book would cover information pertaining to how I would feel as a mother and react given different situations.  For example, the one aspect that most books do not cover is that initial shock of how the entire world changes right after one holds their baby for the first time; how responsibilities change and time management becomes the basic function of everyday life – how the dawning of new life seems to create utter chaos in the beginning.  However, the book mainly focuses on the child and what a mother must do to keep the child functioning (not necessarily what she must do to keep herself functioning – which can often directly affect the child if the mother is not doing okay).  As what society would consider a “young mother,” the hardest part to regarding my child in the beginning was the change he brought to my life (as egocentric as that may sound).  A mother sacrifices everything in order to raise a child, but rarely that push-pull factor that leads to stress is addressed.  The way a mother addresses her child based on her situation directly affects the way the child is brought up – therefore to find some sort of understanding in all situations would greatly change the way all women raise their children for the better.              

       This leads me to the next fact that different familial situations can lead to different dynamics within the home and outside it as well.  Not all mothers are in monogamous heterosexual and comfortable relationships – there are many single mothers, young mothers, mothers in bad relationships and homosexual families being started all the time.  This book often describes what the father can do to help, but rarely does the book describe what a woman who is in a different situation can do to provide for her child and keep herself sane.  The societal morale can often bog down these kinds of women because of their choices and cause a different kind of dynamic which in the long run plays a key role in the child’s life – this kind of alteration in the family starts right at the beginning and can change the way a child is raised.  It is easy for someone to tell these women to “be strong,” but to try to understand their situations and how their choices change the way the child is viewed later in life (by their peers and others) is much harder.             

       I like this book for its fundamentals and the fact that it does cover the basics of physically caring for a child, but if I already have another book that covers this information, there is simply no need to purchase another one.  I believe that the title should include something like, “The fundamentals of caring for baby for the first two years.”  But as stated, there is so much more to being a mom than just caring for baby. 

       The information given on baby, however, is well organized and well illustrated and I thoroughly enjoyed the layout.  I am a little disappointed in the index because it took a long time to really find the information it was attempting to point me to and many times it was not what I was looking for.  Overall, I still think that I would be prone to find a book that covers a lot more of the basics.  I will admit that the usual ailments and situations that affect little ones are in this book, but I would prefer a book that covers everything.  When I was pregnant with my first child at 17, the information I sought after mainly pertained to how I was going to thrive with my new addition – not necessarily what I had to do to keep the child thriving, thus, this would not have been my book of choice.  But everyone is different – for me, I would not purchase this book, but it is a fantastic book for those in monogamous heterosexual and comfortable relationships.