Hoodwinked

A friend lent me this book a few months back and, in true Sarah style, I've only just finished reading it.  She thought I could use some encouragement in this season of parenting small children...and she was right!

And this book IS very encouraging!  Although nauseatingly American at times (there are only so many times this Aussie can read 'momma' and 'kiddos'), it's a great read.  Here's are the motherhood 'myths' they attempt to debunk:

Myth #1: Motherhood is natural, easy and instinctive
Myth #2: The way I mother is the right (and only) way
Myth #3: I am 'just' a mom
Myth #4: Motherhood is all-consuming and all-fulfilling
Myth #5: A good mother can do it all, all at once
Myth #6: Motherhood is a rat race
Myth #7: Motherhood is the luck of the draw
Myth #8: Everything depends on me
Myth #9: I have to do it all right, or my child will turn out wrong
Myth #10: My child's bad choice means I'm a bad mom

My issue is not so much that I believe these myths, but I grow weary when encountering other mums who do.  I don't believe that if my child turns out to be a serial killer that it's because I did something 'wrong' in raising them, but there are plenty of other mothers who will think that.  I've heard older Christian women bitching about other Christian parents whose adult children aren't following the Lord, criticising their parenting, that they MUST be to blame for the children's poor choices.  This really makes my blood boil.  I was very encouraged by Karen Ehman's (one of the authors) honesty in sharing how her son ended up in trouble with the law as a teenager.  Yes, he came from a 'good Christian home'.  It's tempting to believe that other mothers aren't really judging you, and it's true that they often aren't, but the reality is that sometimes they really are.  Ehman shares openly and honestly how when she was pregnant with her first child she had very strong views on how to parent and how she and other women at her church would say nasty things behind the backs of other women who went back to work or didn't breastfeed.  She also shares how a difficult experience with one of her own babies humbled and changed her.

This is a great book for mums under the pump.  It also contains prayer points and Bible verse cards which can be photocopied and printed.