Life can be very ironic. I waited and waited for the book, "Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too" to review on Gather. The book never came and plans for the trip to see our pregnant daughter overtook me. This hasn't been the first time a book hasn't arrived. It seems we have an address similar to someone else in our town and I suspect they may be the beneficiary of some great books.
After a wonderful visit with our daughter, her husband and the growing baby we arrived home yesterday and found the book in the mail! It's way past the deadline to review the book but I spent today reading it so I can pass it on to my daughter. Here is my review.
Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too
By Susan Callahan, Anne Nolen and Katrin Schumann
Being a mother is an opportunity that comes without a requirement of a specialized degree or training. Too often mothers feel overwhelmed at the choice they made to become a parent. The late nights, early mornings and laundry, loads and loads of laundry can make them lose themselves, who they are. The book, Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too by Susan Callahan, Anne Nolen and Katrin Schumann is ideal for a mother who is feeling like they are lost in the needs of her children and household, actually it is ideal for most any mother to read, even a more seasoned one.
There is a good balance between real life mom experiences, advice and reference material from professionals on various topics which impact mothers and my favorite feature, "From Problem to Solution". Mothers share how they have solved difficult problems, some solutions appear simple others are quite creative.
It is clear the authors have a passion for the subject of motherhood and the need to allow mothers time for themselves. The book starts with a must read introduction dealing with the fears of never being a good-enough mother and finding a way to be happy with doing the best each individual mother can. There is a powerful chapter early on (Chapter 2) which addresses how it is so easy to lose oneself to motherhood and how to deal with the changes motherhood makes in a person and finding who they are now. The authors discuss ways to learn to blend motherhood with who they were and hope to be in the future. Motherhood does not mean the end of a person's dreams.
As a mother of many years and soon to be a grandmother I found Chapter 3 to be the most powerful for me. Too many times when I was in the trenches of motherhood I got lost in what I needed to do and forgot to celebrate the moments my daughters came to me with questions and/or just wanted to chat. Chapter 3, "The Importance of the Here and Now" is about that exact thing.
Other chapters shares with mothers the need to keep the loving link with their partner, how to reach out and not become isolated, how important self-care is, how a mother should always allow herself downtime, how sometimes less is more and the final chapter reminds mothers that motherhood is supposed to be fun! Each chapter provides examples about the topic from mothers, information about studies relating to the topic and specialist's words of wisdom and of course my favorite, "From Problem to Solution".
The only thing I didn't like about the book was the layout. Too often the flow of the reading was broken up sometimes mid-sentence by the "From Problem to Solution" feature and real life examples from parents. The quotes (which were great) were not a problem.
Overall, I would strongly recommend this book for new parents, grandparents, friends, aunts and uncles of mothers to read. It addresses the realities of motherhood with excellent positive solutions and resources.
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Authors Susan Callahan, Anne Nolen and Katrin Schumann bring to this book over thirty-five years of raising children and between them ten children. Their experiences with regards to motherhood are varied and include being a stay-at-home mom to one who works full-time. Callahan works a fast-paced job, Nolen is a mother of twins and a boy and finds achieving balance a challenge, Schumann is a mother, writer, and artist. More information on the book and the authors can be found at http://www.momstimeouts.com/
The authors are generously donating a portion of their profits form each book to help support the United Nations Development Fund for Women: http://www.unifem.org/.
Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too
By Susan Callahan, Anne Nolen, and Katrin Schumann
Copyright © 2008 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
ISBN 978-0-07-150807-0
Pages: 270
USA $16.95
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Comments: 17
I will be passing this book on to our daughter at Christmas. She was the reason I agreed to review the book.
http://mcgrawhillbooks.gather.com/
Because they are all about non-fiction books and give away books for reviews. Hope this helps.
Great review, by the way.
Blessings to your whole family... love you...
I'm glad our book was worth the wait. It's funny how something so simple can be so complicated -- taking time for ourselves is so fundamental to enjoying this motherhood journey and yet the idea often seems so radical! We're all trying to be as selfless as we can, and ultimately it's doing us harm, and turning us inot people our husbands and kids don't want to hang out with!!
Enjoy your children, and your children's children...
ALl Best
Katrin
Co-author, Mothers Need Time Outs, Too