Rating: 
Summary: essential reading, ASAP, for all mothers
Review: A dear friend quietly recommended this book to me, but I feel like shouting to the rest of the world that this book has added a quality to my living that I never knew possible. I shudder to think that I may not have breathed in her wisdom and ideas until it was too late. I have read other books that celebrate living in the moment, and I thought I was doing more of it. But Kenison's practical suggestions, woven with her raw awareness for the simple goodness availabe to us in our lives, have finally brought me to the place, where for the first time in my life, I am making conscious decisions about raising my family and nurturing myself that are allowing me to BE rather than DO. She has helped me to resist the flow of popular culture, and listen the the voice of the mother and person I know I have always wanted to be. Like a millenium version of Anne Morrow Lindbergh's "Gift from the Sea", Mitten Strings for God is prayer for mothers to find and live more moments of pure joy and inner fulfillment. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Thank you, Katrina Kenison, for this important book that will become as legendary to mothers as "Gift from the Sea".
Rating:
Summary: A "must read" for all parents......
Review: In this hectic, fast paced world that our children are growing up in....this wonderful book made me stop, take pause and reflect on the kinds of choices being made that fill my children's days as well as their minds. While reading it I kept thinking how ironic it is that our adult culture is currently embracing Eastern cultural thinking and ways of life through the books we've made best sellers...calming fountains we buy to bring the sounds of nature into our homes...even bead bracelets we wear to bring calmness/serenity/good health to our being. Yet what are we doing to our children? Dashing through their childhood from one planned activity to the next and spending hours in front of electronic equipment with no human interaction. Mitten Strings for God made me think hard about the importance of "conscience parenting"..and reminded me of the wonderful things that unfold in life when you slow down. It is a "must read" for all parents. Thank you, Katrina Kenison.
Rating: 
Summary: BUt what to do
Review: It was a nice peek into the author's "privledged" life but what can most of the rest of us do to create more spirituality with our kids. I prefer hands on action books. For real ideas I read BEliefnet.com's parenting and family stuff. They have a daily page of tips for parents that feeds my imagination and spirit as a parent. This book left me feeling a little diminished. It's also got a Christian slant.
Rating:
Summary: BUt what to do
Review: It was a nice peek into the author's "privledged" life but what can most of the rest of us do to create more spirituality with our kids. I prefer hands on action books. For real ideas I read BEliefnet.com's parenting and family stuff. They have a daily page of tips for parents that feeds my imagination and spirit as a parent. This book left me feeling a little diminished. It's also got a Christian slant.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, inspiring, and filled with thoughtful ideas!
Review: Katrina has written such a beautiful book. I often pick it up to read chapters over again (and the recipes are delicious!). She includes stories from her own life of things that worked and the sometimes hilarious ones when things went bad (cat peeing on the floor and she lost it in front of the children). And who among us hasn't packed our children in the car to see some children's entertainer, only to realize later that we would have had more fun snuggling up and reading to eachother at home? Because she shares her humbling parenting mishaps, it's easier to consider her advice in the stories when she seems like such a perfect parent. She offers practical and thoughtful ideas for slowing down, connecting, and really being present with our children. This is my favorite book to give to mothers with young or school-age children. Buy an extra one -- you'll want one to loan out so you can still keep your own. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining, inspiring, and filled with thoughtful ideas!
Review: Katrina has written such a beautiful book. I often pick it up to read chapters over again (and the recipes are delicious!). She includes stories from her own life of things that worked and the sometimes hilarious ones when things went bad (cat peeing on the floor and she lost it in front of the children). And who among us hasn't packed our children in the car to see some children's entertainer, only to realize later that we would have had more fun snuggling up and reading to eachother at home? Because she shares her humbling parenting mishaps, it's easier to consider her advice in the stories when she seems like such a perfect parent. She offers practical and thoughtful ideas for slowing down, connecting, and really being present with our children. This is my favorite book to give to mothers with young or school-age children. Buy an extra one -- you'll want one to loan out so you can still keep your own. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: I'd give this a 3.6 rating on a scale of 1 to 5
Review: Katrina Kenison can make magic. This short and easy series of thoughts on mothering was able to go down all the better for it's brevity (the boy's napping - let's take 5 and read a couple of pages!). It's brevity causes it to lose nothing for gravity and richness - it only serves to make her thoughts more precise, more clear. I've enjoyed adding things to our own life (like the brownie who lives in the kitchen) and will happily look for more of her work.
Rating:
Summary: Not in too much of a hurry to read this!
Review: Katrina Kenison can make magic. This short and easy series of thoughts on mothering was able to go down all the better for it's brevity (the boy's napping - let's take 5 and read a couple of pages!). It's brevity causes it to lose nothing for gravity and richness - it only serves to make her thoughts more precise, more clear. I've enjoyed adding things to our own life (like the brownie who lives in the kitchen) and will happily look for more of her work.
Rating:
Summary: A MUST FOR MOMS
Review: Mitten Strings For God: Reflections For Mothers In A Hurry by Katrina Kenison is a series of meditative thoughts. Inspirational and life-affirming, it offers reminders of what is of lasting value, such as grace, love, tranquility. Ms. Kenison writes, "I can only bring peace to my children when I possess it myself." The mother of two energetic young sons and former editor of The Best American Short Stories anthology, Ms. Kenison well knows the pressures under which contemporary families exist, the whirlwind activities generated when one wants only the best for children, and the frenetic treadmill involved in being a working wife/mother. Nonetheless, the author has suggestions for discovering oases of serenity as she intersperses personal experiences with philosophical wisdom. Her writing, which is as simple and true as that of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, bears rereading and contemplation. Ms. Kenison brings a sense of reawakened pleasure to the sometimes harried family evening meal, as well as a profound joy found in the ordinary. "Only by slowing down do we make time for one another," she writes. "Only by stopping long enough to observe our surroundings can we bring shape and meaning to our lives." How simple. How true. - Gail Cooke
Rating:
Summary: A MUST FOR MOMS
Review: Mitten Strings For God: Reflections For Mothers In A Hurry by Katrina Kenison is a series of meditative thoughts. Inspirational and life-affirming, it offers reminders of what is of lasting value, such as grace, love, tranquility. Ms. Kenison writes, "I can only bring peace to my children when I possess it myself." The mother of two energetic young sons and former editor of The Best American Short Stories anthology, Ms. Kenison well knows the pressures under which contemporary families exist, the whirlwind activities generated when one wants only the best for children, and the frenetic treadmill involved in being a working wife/mother. Nonetheless, the author has suggestions for discovering oases of serenity as she intersperses personal experiences with philosophical wisdom. Her writing, which is as simple and true as that of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, bears rereading and contemplation. Ms. Kenison brings a sense of reawakened pleasure to the sometimes harried family evening meal, as well as a profound joy found in the ordinary. "Only by slowing down do we make time for one another," she writes. "Only by stopping long enough to observe our surroundings can we bring shape and meaning to our lives." How simple. How true. - Gail Cooke
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