So I was going to write a negative review just to shake things up a bit, but being an honest type, I couldn’t. I have read this beautiful little gem of a book and it is excellent.
Having said that, though, I cannot recommend that you buy a copy.
I recommend that you buy three.
One to keep for yourself, of course.
One for your friend.
And one for that frazzled young mom in the pew behind you.
I’m serious! Strike up a conversation with her over doughnuts after Mass. Share this book and share your phone number. Even better, you call her.
I know about her needing a friend because I’ve been there. As a young mom I once spent a half an hour searching for my toddler’s shoe. All I wanted was to get out of that stupid apartment and go for a walk, for heaven’s sake. Where was that shoe?!! With eyes blinded by tears of frustration and a feeling of near-total desperation, I murmured (quietly, lest God and my two-year-old hear me), “I hate my life.”
Such moments pass eventually, but at the time? I felt incredibly alone.
Fast-forward a year. I was not a blogger; I did not read blogs. I had a limited knowledge of the Internet, however, and when I came across the web address at the end of one of Danielle’s articles in Faith and Family, I thought, “What’s this?” and I looked her up.
Well, I know you know exactly what I mean when I say the following:
I read one post and I was hooked.
Suddenly I was not alone. There was another Catholic home-schooling mom out there whose kids misplaced their pencils (and it wasn’t tragic); whose little girl cut up a dollar bill (and it was funny); and whose dog sat on a candy cane and walked around with it stuck to his butt. (Well, it was.)
I would eagerly click on her link each day and I would laugh and I’d be heartened and I’d return to my chores with fresh resolve.
We’d had a conversation, mom to mom. At least, it seemed so!
In Mom to Mom, Day to Day, the conversation gets extended. It’s so much more than the snippet that a post is! Indeed, this book is a nice long read for your late-night baths; what’s more, it is lovely to look at and feels just nice within your hands. (These are important qualities for a book, in my opinion. I am often sold on a book just by the feel of it.)
What are you in the mood for? I guarantee you: it’s all here. There’s advice on parenting that’s practical, not preachy. There’s an abundance of marital wisdom. (As parents of 8 children, I gotta think that they’ve got a good thing going.) And as always, there are the amusing anecdotes and pithy humor for which she’s famous.
Anyway.
I guess you could say that I’m a fan of Danielle’s writing. She does it on her blog and you can bet your bottom dollar that she does it in this book. Okay, so this little tome will cost you a few bucks more than that. What’s the expression? You’re worth it.
And so is that young mom in the pew behind you.
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