Staying Home: From Full-Time Professional to Full-Time Parent

Rating:
Summary:

Author's comments on Staying Home
Review:

To stay at home or not to stay at home--that is the question tormenting many parents these days. While my co-author Darcie Sanders and I wouldn't presume to answer that question for our readers, we wanted to take a look at the realities of at-home motherhood and help women through the often difficult transition from the workforce to the home.

So we surveyed 300 at-home moms across the country to find out why they had chosen to stay home, what were the hardest and easiest parts of the transition, and what wisdom they could pass on to other moms. We received hundreds of heart-felt replies (some with peanut butter and jelly stains on them), and knew we had exactly what we needed for our book. The final result was Staying Home: From Full-Time Professional to Full-time Parent.

In Staying Home we also focused on:

€ creating a new self-image as a home-based mom

€ adjusting to changing relationships with your spouse, family and friends

€ coping with isolation and 24-hour work days

€ managing your loss of income and professional identity

€ networking with other women

€ and exploring ways to reenter the workforce once you¹re ready.

Publishers Weekly called Staying Home "a must for all mothers who are or want to be at home with their children." And Parenting Magazine commented, "By combining practical information with soothing wisdom, the authors help career women navigate the sometimes rocky road to full-time motherhood."

Darcie and I enjoyed our collaboration so much that we've written two other books together: Never Thow Out a Banana Again, a book with 365 money-saving ideas, published by Crown Books; and a book on home-based businesses, Turn Your Talents into Profits, just published by Pocket Books in April '98.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent resource for making THE decision to stay home
Review: After the birth of my son 2months ago, I knew I could not go back to work. But, I had a lot of fear about how I would deal with my needs for intellectual stimulation, external validation, connection with other adults, etc. This book echoes the experience of many other women who've been in the same position, offering suggestions and information about other support resources which I found to be extremely helpful. Since reading the book, I have accessed many of those resources and feel 100% more at peace with my decision to leave a job I love to do some of the most important work I can imagine...raising my son.

Rating:
Summary: It's good to know you are not alone ...
Review: After weighing the options,I decided become a full-time mother to my 18-month old daughter. I received much encouragement from career-minded women that I was doing something that I would not regret ... and I do believe that. However, very few people talk of the difficulties in adjusting to at-home life after being successful in the competitive business world. Are you wasting your education? Becoming too dependent on someone else? Depriving your child of certain things due to a decrease in household income? Putting too much stress on your partner being the sole bread winner? Too many questions that I thought I was the only one grappling with. I'm not much on self-help books, but this book made me realize my concerns are being felt by most other women making this transition. I read this book after leaving my job, but I highly recommend it for anyone even thinking about the possibility of at-home motherhood. I know I made the right decision. This book simply affirms it!

Rating:
Summary: Encouraging and inspiring -- a must read!
Review: Encouraging and inspiring -- a must read!, October 26, 2004
This is a must read for any woman looking to leave the work force and begin a career as a full-time mother at home. The authors do a great job of answering commonly asked questions.

Staying Home really encouraged and inspired me with facts and figures, suggestions and feedback from other moms surveyed. This book is perfect for moms who are already home, and would make a great gift for those on the fence. It may be just what they need to take on the role of full-time parent.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Book if you have younger children!
Review: Excellent Book if you have younger children! Maybe the description for this book should specify more of what type of mothers this book is geared towards which would be for new mothers. But very well put together compiled with useful information!

Rating:
Summary: Highly recommended
Review: Highly recommended reading for all mothers in the process of choosing whether or not to be full-time homemakers and parents.

Rating:
Summary: How to get out of the rat race & become Mama Rabbit
Review: How can this book help you? For starters it includes the most up-to-date information on mothers' support organizations, websites & work-at-home resources.

It also tells us all about Making the Transition from Professional to Professional Parent; Changing Relationships: Starting Over with Your Husband, Family, Friends, and Yourself; Looking Ahead: Taking the Next Step in Your Family Life Cycle, and your Options: Community Work, Home-Based Business, and Reentering the Outside Work Force.

Much is covered by this modest book although the one section which had me riveted was not long & started on page 108: Sex Role Stereotypes and the Division of Labor. Good stuff!

Rating:
Summary: Just what I needed!
Review: I am a newly pregnant, first-time mother living in a new community in a new state. During a 3-month vacation after moving, I became pregnant and had to decide whether to go back to work before I had the baby and/or after the baby. Without much social support in my new surroundings, I had many questions and concerns, and felt that none of those I knew back home could quite comprehend my situation. This book answered all my questions, and showed me that I am not alone! Society (in America) has put women in the position of choosing between family and work. This book has been a real comfort to me, and has given me the incentive to volunteer with organizations to help make change in public policy. I can't recommend this book enough as a support for what you know in your heart is your best possible decision to make regarding your family.

Rating:
Summary: Should be called "Why Stay-At Home Moms Are Better Moms"
Review: I am really disappointed with this book. If you recently decided to stay at home and want a book that will make you feel better about your decision (or more accurately, if you want a book to make you feel superior to working moms), than this is the book for you. Personally, I love my job AND I love my child, but I might be forced to stay home due to child care problems. I was hoping to find a book that would help me decide whether I have what it takes to stay at home full-time, or if I should look into paying up for a nanny so I could keep my career. This book did not help me with my difficult decision. Instead, it idealizes the superiority of the stay-at-home mom, and it made me feel guilty for DARING to want to keep my job at all. Finally, it is missing an important chapter: "How to Protect Yourself from Poverty If you give up your career and then get dumped by your husband at age 45."

Rating:
Summary: Helpful and validating
Review: I enjoyed this book's tone -- reads like a sociology study, very unbiased and straightforward. Non-judgemental. As a stay-at-home mom who works at home very part-time, I felt validated by many of its findings. Staying home can be lonely, and it's comforting to read about other women experiencing similar feelings. Some of its comclusions are a bit obvious, but I would still recommend this book to new moms and friends considering staying home.