Sunday, March 15, 2009

Mommy Grace: Review and Giveaway

I have found my kindred spirit (to borrow from Anne of Green Gables). Her name is Dr. Sheila Shuller Coleman. Sheila (I hope she doesn't mind if I use first names, as I feel like I know her well!) wrote the book Mommy Grace: Erasing Your Mommy Guilt



What the publisher says:
MOMMY GRACE

By Sheila Schuller Coleman

Universally, mothers tend to feel they are not good enough at parenting and fear they are harming their children by not being perfect. In Mommy Grace: Erasing Mommy Guilt, Sheila Schuller Coleman offers overwhelmed moms short but emotive stories of authentic motherhood from her own and others' experiences-foibles and all-and offers comfort by showing how God makes up for human weakness with His own strength.

Because Sheila shares lessons learned the hard way by real moms rather than giving difficult instructions for better mothering, readers will leave the book feeling encouraged rather than lectured.

For every mom who feels she's not quite up to the colossal job of parenting, MOMMY GRACE is full of hope and compassion.


The facts:
Mommy Grace is a 160 page book broken into about 30 chapters. If you do the math, you see that each chapter is short. The chapters start with a 2-5 page story about a situation in which a Mom (usually Sheila) has good reason to feel guilty. Chapters include: forgetting a child at home alone; sick babies; gum-encrusted toddlers; and really listening to kids. Following the story and lesson learned is summary statement such as:
Responsibility is response-ability
And leaving the results to God!
Next is a Scripture passage, and the chapter ends with a prayer. The prayer is written out like a (non-rhyming)poem.

My reaction:
From my introduction, you probably guessed that I enjoyed the book. You are right! When I first received the book to review, I hesitated because I wasn't sure when I'd have time to read it. But I was delighted to find the short chapters that were easy to read when the kids gave me a few minutes of peace. Many books about Moms are written by stay at home moms. I have nothing against SAHMs. (My husband is a stay at home at Daddy.) But often advice given a SAHM just doesn't work for a working mom. So, Sheila got my attention when I learned she was not only a working mom, but an educator like me. And, she's not a mom of only 1 child, but 4. (One more than me!)

But, none of this is why I felt a kinship with Sheila. No. It was her stories. Some of them felt like she's been reading my mail (or at least my blog!) Stories like: being too absorbed my project to pay attention to the kids; learning to release my child into God's hands (where she was all along); and the need to (repeated) say, "I'm sorry" to my kids.

I think the statement that hit home was in the chapter, "Love Covers a Multitude of Sins". She said, "Not a nurturing woman, even in the best of circumstances..." She goes on to talk about a particularly bad night when her husband had been sick for a long time, and the kids were stepping on her last nerve. What followed was a total Mommy snap. (I've had my share of those!) Long before we had kids (even before infertility) we decided that John would be the one to stay home--because he was more of the nurturer. This always bothered me. Here I was the teacher, but not a "nurturer". But when Sheila admitted this, I felt great relief. I'm not alone.

During the introduction, Sheila talks about the Mommy guilt of being an educator and wondering what credibility she would have as an "expert" when he kids were less than perfect. I faced this with my daughter. My title is "Developmental Specialist II" working in the birth to three population. But I had a 4 year old daughter who was not potty trained.

Mommy Grace has helped me realize that as long as I do my best, God will take care of the results. And some days my best, is far from perfect. But I am going to continue loving my kids, and I pray that Mommy Guilt will drive me to the foot of the cross where I will find Mommy Grace.

Want a copy?
Pre-order now:


or win one of five (5!) copies of Mommy Grace

To enter: Leave a comment. No specific requirement, but please don't just say, "Pick me".

For extra entries (leave an extra comment):

* Share a Mommy Guilt moment (and lesson learned)
* Add my button to your blog
* Follow me on twitter
* Twitter about this giveaway
* Follow my blog
* Subscribe to my blog

Contest ends Friday, March 27th.
Limited to US or Canada addresses. (No PO Boxes)

38 comments:

Conny said...

Wow, a book to combat MOMMY GUILT! Who doesn't have a little or a lot? I know that after all the years of infertility & saying, "If I only were a mom, I'd NEVER....fill in the blank." and when I finally had kids, I did just that very thing! MOMMY GUILT. Ugh!!! I'd love a chance to win the book!

Riannon said...

Sounds like an interesting book. I really enjoy mommy books. Thanks for the giveaway!

Jill said...

What mother at one time or another hasn't felt guilty? This book sounds like one I wouldn't be able to put down!

Thanks :)

Jill said...

I'm a New Follower :)

KR said...

I'd love this for my niece. She's having terrible mommy guilt. I think the scriptures would really help her.

Anonymous said...

Since kids don't come with instruction books or warranties, we all feel guilty when things don't go the way we think they should. Sounds like a good book.
digicat{AT}sbcglobal{DOT}net

Anonymous said...

I subscribe via Google Reader
digicat{AT}sbcglobal{DOT}net

Anonymous said...

I'm a follower
digicat{AT}sbcglobal{DOT}net

Katrina said...

I would love to read this because as a first time mom and a new baby mommy guilt will be happening all the time.

Lady Christie said...

I have 3 kids and all I ever feel is guilty, I would really love to read this book.

imchristiedammit[at]yahoo[dot]com

Unknown said...

Sounds like a good book, I know I've felt the guilt and my sister is a great mom and she has alot of guilt and thinking she's not doing a good enough job feeling, so this book would be great for her and myself to read. Thanks for the chance.

Debs Desk said...

I love your blog and all your great reviews. Please include me in your giveaway.
Thanks
Debbie
debdesk9@verizon.net

silverhartgirl said...

I would love to read this

carolyn said...

I have mommy guilt over many things. Wow a book to look at that issue is great.
I always look back and wish I could have been a better Mom to a colicky baby, but at the time it is so overwhelming. And you do not know what to do to make them feel better, it hard.

Unknown said...

This sounds like a great read! I know that we are all combating the mommy guilt!

Unknown said...

I am a follower

Unknown said...

I follow on twitter
breasmommy

Unknown said...

I am a new subscriber

Anonymous said...

Mommy Guilt~ a weekly, if not daily thing for me. thanks for the opportunity to win :)

Anonymous said...

I just read another book on this topic :)

Would love to be entered thanks...

Anonymous said...

I'm sure we all agree that Mommy Guilt is a real problem we all face at one time or another. That being said, I would love to win a copy so I can start dealing with my own. Thanks and God bless!

Barbara's Beat said...

This book sounds like what my daughter needs at this time in her life. She has 3 kids and tries so hard to give them everything and feels guilty all the time about her kids. She loves to read and loves church and she would love this book. Thanks for having it.

The Queen Mommy said...

I think the book was written for me!!! I constantly struggle with mommy guilt and the lasting effects MY negative reactions will have on my daughters! Whether or not I win a free copy, I MUST add this book to my collection! Thanks for posting your review and a giveaway!

The Queen Mommy said...

Following you on Twitter now!

The Queen Mommy said...

Now I'm subscribed, too. Love your blog - it's cute, fresh, and really interesting!

Michelle @ [ real neat ] said...

Sounds like a good read! Thanks for sharing!

mom2fivekiddos said...

This would be such a pleasure....would love to actually win it!

lotsamamma said...

Hi! I came accross your blog from organizedfamilies.com

I am a mom of 5, ages 9, 8, 4 and 3 year old twins, so I hae my fair share of mommy guilt!
ONe of my biggest moments of mommy guilt that I STILL cringe over is when my oldest daughter (the 8 year old) was potty training. She was extremely difficult to potty train and, in retrospect, I think she just wasn't physically ready yet...anyway, after a particularly rough day of accidents, etc, she had a really messy accident in her panties and I just lost it. At her. Like, I mean LOST it. I snapped. I was yelling and screaming. Thankfully, I didn't hit her but I was so frustrated and angry I felt that I could have. It was terrifying, for both of us! I can't even laugh about it now, and probably will never be able to. I will never forget the look in her eyes.
I can only hope to learn from this experience and ask for God's grace and forgiveness.
Mommy guilt is such a terrible thing - it prevents us from asking for help, it pits mothers against other mothers in the hopes of making ourselves feel better and less guilty instead of us supporting each other and learning from each other. Guilt is one of Satan's greatest tools!!!

Crystal Arcand said...

Hmmm... a book about Mommy Guilt broken down into small chapters that I can read in the Mommy Library. Should I feel guilty about wanting it?

Nah! Gimme, gimme! (Well, maybe I should feel guilty about being so greedy... Nope, still want the book!)

kim shirk said...

This sounds like an awesome book... I would share my copy with my "mommy" friends!! ( :

AriesMama said...

Sounds like a great book to share with a book club.

AriesMama said...

Great idea for a giveaway! Looking forward to reading the book soon.

LivingforGod said...

This book sounds very encouraging. Thanks for a chance to win it :)!

serving_theKingofkings@yahoo.com

Michelle said...

So much guilt. The other day I started just yelling at my girls. I later thought to myself...wow all the weeks where I was trying so hard and doing a good job, all undone. All that they will remember for the next few days is me losing my cool.

Moore Minutes said...

Interesting...I thought I was one of the few who felt guilt over everything in motherhood...BUT, nope! :) I've never heard of a book on this topic, sounds fascinating. Thank you for doing a giveaway.

Moore Minutes said...

I follow your blog. :)

Moore Minutes said...

I follow you on twitter too

Jodi said...

This sounds like a great book. I am a mother of 2 working 2 jobs and often feel overwhelmed and guilty about being away from my children or being tired when I am home.