Book Review Friday 9/19/08

Book: The Stay-At-Home Survival Guide
Author: Melissa Stanton
Pages: 385

I have a confession. There are times--minutes, hours, days--where I don't particularly love being a stay at home mom. GASP. I know. It's a meaty confession, but I feel so much better now that I've let it out. Inside, I know that I'm doing the right thing with this choice I've made, but there are times I wonder if I'm going insane or if I'll ever be able to exercise my brain again.

My mom picked this book up at the library for me, and I realized in the first 20 pages I should've read it about 3 1/2 years ago. All this time, I've felt guilty for these inner feelings that don't quite coincide with what I perceived around me. I felt like I was the only one who--while I enjoy going to the park and walking to Maverik with Josh--was so frickin' bored with the daily monotonity of motherhood. The other night, while reading the same book to Josh at bedtime that I've read a bazillion times, I had to physically keep myself from screaming. And it's not the first time I've had to restrain myself. All this time I thought it was just me, but it's not. And if nothing else, I'm glad that burden has been lifted.

While the book is geared more towards women who have left lucrative, career jobs, most anyone could find something useful in this read. It's nice to know that even CEO's, doctors, and lawyers are giving up their careers to stay at home with their kids. One thing I really liked about the book was that it was 95% women who were at home without any outside help like nannies. It made it a little easier to digest knowing that they were in the same boat as me.

While there was nothing earth shattering new in the book, it was nice to see that I'm on the right page. Make friends, have passions outside of child-rearing, make sure that you're taken care of should your husband die or become disabled. Education. And above all, know that it's okay not to like your "job" 24/7 nor do you have to feel inferior because you're "just a mom". Those validations alone made the book worth the read.

I wish I could buy a caseload of this book and hand them out at baby showers for first time moms. I really could've used the advice in here about 3 years ago.

One friend, who is nearing 65 and stayed home with three boys, put it best when she said "looking back on it, I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I stayed at home to raise my boys. But, when I was in the midst of it, I didn't like it all that much and I spent a lot of time at church feeling guilty for it. I would imagine more women felt that way then felt that this was the best times of their lives and we should've been more open about it."