Life As A Mommy

Mama of ten Abbie Halberstadt helps women humbly and gracefully rise to the high calling of motherhood without settling for mediocrity or losing their minds in the process. Motherhood is a challenge. Unfortunately, our worldly culture offers moms little in the way of real help. Mamas only connect to celebrate surviving another day and to share in their misery rather than rejoice in what God has done and to build each other up in hard times. There has a be a better way, a biblical way, for mamas to grow and thrive. As a daughter of Christ, you have been called to be more than an average mama. Attaining excellence doesn’t have to be unsettling but it will take committed focus and a desire to parent well according to God’s grace and for His glory. M is for Mama offers advice, encouragement, and scripturally sound strategies seasoned with a little bit of humor to help you embrace the challenge of biblical motherhood and raise your children with love and wisdom. Mama, you are worthy of the awesome responsibility God has given you. Now it’s time to start believing you can live up to it.

"Do You Feel Isolated as a Mom?" You've heard, "No man is an island," but did you know that, "No mom is an island," either? Through twelve years of parenting, Cathy Spigarelli has learned moms need other moms, for advice, reassurance, suggestions, and camaraderie. In her book, "Life as a Mommy," moms find just such support. Every day for a year, Cathy wrote about life with her three, young children. The 365 compact entries have a girlfriend-to-girlfriend, conversational tone and can be read in minutes, without guilt. "Life as a Mommy" provides a window into the daily life of a mom, revealing her triumphs and struggles, her joy and laughter, and her dilemmas and concerns. The book gently advises, provides insights, and offers suggestions to fellow moms. You will laugh, you will cry, and you will wonder, as Cathy does, about this incredibly difficult, incredibly joyous thing called motherhood. Cathy Spigarelli didn't start out dreaming of being a mommy. Instead, she began a career as an engineer. She married and then completed a master's degree. With a brand new degree and a brand new baby, Cathy found herself at a turning point. Setting aside career ambitions, she became a full-time mommy. For twelve years, Cathy has been a stay-at-home mom. Every day for an entire year, she captured her thoughts, feelings, and concerns about daily life as a mom. She wrote while locked in the bathroom, at stoplights, and in the preschool parking lot. She lives with her husband (who wonders why he isn't mentioned in the book more often) and her three lively children (who wonder why mommy writes about them) in Indianapolis, Indiana. In this book, you will find that, as a mom, you do not walk alone. We journey through motherhood together. Won't you join me?

A survivor takes those struggling with anorexia and/or bulimia on “a passionate, heartbreaking to humorous road from rock bottom to recovery” (Robert Tuchman, author of Young Guns). Imagine waking in a hospital bed to find your frail, pale arm punctured by an IV transferring fluids and nutrients into your weak, stiff body. What happened? You’re an adult, age twenty-six, and you just had a seizure precipitated by your chronic, secretive, decades-long struggle with unacknowledged eating disorders. You have no friends and no normal young-adult experiences. Living Full is written by Danielle Sherman-Lazar, a woman who passed through the eating disorder crucible to recovery, sharing the most intimate and shameful details of her mental illness. Living Full is Danielle’s story. Eating disorders in young adults are hardly talked about, but are pervasive. Eating disorders are kept hidden out of shame. A groundbreaking 2012 study published in the International Journal of Eating Disorders found that about thirteen percent of women over age fifty exhibit eating disorder symptoms. Living Full chronicles the author’s step-by-step descent into the full-blown eating disorder nightmare and her path to recovery. Recovery comes from the Maudsley Approach, a regimen of supervised controlled eating or refeeding by out-patient helpers that eventually can result in recovery. Benefits of reading Living Full: See how to confront your eating disorder demon Learn from someone who won her eating disorder battle Discover a new and beautiful life

"Slay Like a Mother is a feisty, clever, and fun blueprint for modern motherhood that belongs on every book shelf and in every diaper bag...As a woman and mother, you'll gain a newfound power, happiness, and ability to leap tall Lego buildings in a single bound."—Erin Falconer, author of How To Get Sh*t Done: Why Women Need to Stop Doing Everything So They Can Achieve Anything A revelatory, inspirational guide for mothers to crush their "never enough" mentality and slay every day! Katherine Wintsch knows firsthand the self-doubt that rages inside modern moms. As founder and CEO of The Mom Complex, she has studied the passions and pain points of moms worldwide to help some of the largest brands develop innovative new products and services. As a working mom of two, she was running in an exhausting cycle of "never enough"—not strong enough, not thin enough, not patient enough, not "mom" enough. In Slay Like a Mother, you'll laugh, you'll cry, and you'll discover eye-opening lessons about: THE MASK YOU'RE WEARING. The one you hide behind when you say everything is "just fine" when it's not. YOUR UNREALISTIC EXPECTATIONS. The goal-setting tactics you're deploying to get ahead could be what's holding you back. THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN STRUGGLING AND SUFFERING. Being a mother is a struggle — it always has been — but your suffering is optional. Brave, supportive, and insightful, the stories and advice in this book will encourage you to live more confidently, enjoy the present, and become your best self — as a woman, a mother, and beyond. Perfect for fans of Girl Wash Your Face and #IMomSoHard! ***As featured in The Wall Street Journal and Parade.com*** Additional Praise for Slay Like a Mother: "Wintsch's style is brisk and forthright with enough humor to make readers laugh even as she illuminates dark corners. Although this is aimed at moms, any woman will find this enlightening and encouraging."—Booklist, STARRED review "Slay Like a Mother is much more than a self-help book for women; it is the end of self-doubt and the beginning of self-love... and that is nothing short of life-changing"—Rachel Macy Stafford, New York Times bestselling author of Hands Free Mama

This accessible and honest guide addresses the physical and emotional needs of babies and mothers alike, providing practical help for relieving anxiety, regaining balance between work and home, and adjusting to physical changes. Discussed are many aspects of being a new mother that others hestitate to talk about, such as what to do if boredom sets in, how to resume a sex life comfortably, and how to deal with the baby's grandparents.

Every mom wants the best for her son. She wants him to succeed in life, to be a man of character, to find a good woman, to be a great dad. But sometimes boys are hard for moms to understand. Sometimes they're strange, annoying, and downright disgusting! Yet always they need a mother who is engaged and interested in them, because a mom is the most important person in a boy's life. In What a Difference a Mom Makes, New York Times bestselling author Dr. Kevin Leman uses his wit and wisdom to show Mom how to lay the groundwork that will allow her son to grow into a good man. Armed with Dr. Leman's expert advice and insight, Mom will gain an understanding of her boy at every stage, from that very first diaper change to the moment he leaves for college. Dr. Leman shows how to discipline a boy, how to command respect, how to let him fight his own battles, how to understand his sexuality, and how to weather the changes in the mother-son relationship as he grows up. Most of all, Leman shows Mom how to lighten up and have some fun along the way with that boy who will always have her heart.

“Elizabeth Isadora Gold writes vividly and humorously about the trials and trip-outs of new-motherhood.” —The New Yorker “If you only read one parenting book this year, make it The Mommy Group...This book is incisive, insightful, and downright delightful. I did not mean for that to rhyme” —Adam Mansbach, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Go the F*ck to Sleep In 2010, seven women met in Brooklyn, New York, to form a Mommy Group. Over coffee, croissants, wine, and the occasional baby carrot, they commiserated about typical new-mother issues: difficult births, babies who slept in ten-minute increments, and breast pumps that talked back in the middle of the night. And then things got complicated. Elizabeth and Melissa suffered from postpartum depression and anxiety. Jane’s daughter was diagnosed with developmental delays. Anna’s husband left her when their baby was two weeks old. Through it all, the Mommy Group laughed, supported, and learned lessons from one another that the myriad “experts” hadn’t delivered. The journalist of the bunch—author Elizabeth Isadora Gold—reached out to other Mommy Groups around the country and found that similar bonds were forming far beyond brownstone Brooklyn. In fact, mothers across all class, geographic, and racial boundaries appear to be searching for the same thing: a way to be strong, loving, engaged parents “while retaining—or remaking—our Selves.” A witty, relatable, and honest look at the realities of parenthood today, The Mommy Group is a companion that will help any mom feel understood and empowered, and keep her laughing all the way.

From the creator of the popular blog Mommy Shorts comes a “hilarious and comforting” look at real-world motherhood (New York Times bestselling author, Jill Smokler). Ilana Wiles is not a particularly good mother. She’s not a particularly bad mother either. Like most of us, she’s somewhere in between. And she has some surprisingly good advice about navigating life as an imperfect parent. In this witty and loving homage to the every-parent, Wiles suggests that they having the best child-rearing experience of all. Using Wiles’s signature infographics and photographs to illustrate her personal and hilarious essays on motherhood, The Mommy Shorts Guide to Remarkably Average Parenting is an honest book that celebrates the fun of being a mom.

The ultimate must-read handbook for the modern mother: a practical, and positive tool to help free women from the debilitating notion of being the "perfect mom," filled with funny and all too relatable true-life stories and realistic suggestions to stop the burnout cycle, and protect our kids from the damage burnout can cause. Moms, do you feel tired? Overwhelmed? Have you continually put off the things you need to do for you? Do you feel like it’s all worth it because your kids are happy? Are you "over" being a mother? If you answered yes to these questions, you’re not alone. Parents today want to create the ideal childhood for their children. Women strive to be the picture-perfect Pinterest mother that looks amazing, hosts the best birthday parties in town, posts the most "liked" photos, and serves delicious, nutritious home-cooked meals in her neat, organized home after ferrying the kids to school and a host of extracurricular activities on time. This drive, while noble, can also be destructive, causing stress and anxiety that leads to "mommy burnout." Psychologist and family counselor Dr. Sheryl Ziegler is well-versed in the stress that moms face, and the burden of guilt they carry because they often feel like they aren’t doing enough for their kids’ happiness. A mother of three herself, Dr. Z—as she’s affectionately known by her many patients—recognizes and understands that modern moms are all too often plagued by exhaustion, failure, isolation, self-doubt, and a general lack of self-love, and their families are also feeling the effects, too. Over the last nineteen years working with families and children, Dr. Z has devised a prescriptive program for addressing "mommy burnout"—teaching moms that they can learn to re-energize themselves and still feel good about their families and their lives. In this warm and empathetic guide, she examines this modern epidemic among mothers who put their children’s happiness above their own, and offers empowering, proven solutions for alleviating this condition, saving marriages and keeping kids happy in the process.