The Complete Single Mother

Rating:
Summary: A very helpful book
Review: I really enjoyed this book, read the originial several years ago. It is full of helpful information...now I would like to recommend to you my brand new book called The Single Mother's Survival Guide. Really inspirational, down to Earth, funny and full of great ideas. There is so little for us out there that I am sure Andrea won't mind me mentioning my new book. I also suggest Andrea's book in my suggested reading list at the back of mine. God Bless you all ! Patrice Karst author of God Made Easy and The Single Mother's Survival Guide.

Rating:
Summary: The world's worst parenting book
Review: If you're a single mother who cares even one iota about raising your child into a competent, stable adult, avoid this book! Instead of focusing on how to face the challenges of single motherhood with compassion and wit, this book says your problems are just everyone else's fault. Worried about all the government studies that show the detrimental effects of bad single parenting? Engber says they're all myths and retorts ineffectually with nebulous feel-good quotes from a questionable "living under the patriarchy" study. Your baby's daddy wants custody? According to Engber, it's only be an evil ploy to avoid paying child support! If you want to be coddled into believing you're a (late) pioneer in creating a new (dysfunctional) social order, you'll love this book. If you actually want to be a good parent, you'll do far better with the American Academy of Pediatrics' books, and more importantly, real-life support from functional families and friends.

Rating:
Summary: Wasn't what I was expecting....
Review: Remember, these reviews are personal opinions and your mileage may vary!

The title of the book is right on. It really is the *complete* book for single mothers. Too complete for me. There's a whole chapter on "becoming a single mother through divorce" which will be fine for the seperated/newly divorced mother, but not for me. For you, it has advice on preparing, selecting an attorney, mediation, what to tell people and even having sex with the soon to be ex!

Then there are becoming a mother outside of marriage, choosing motherhood through insemination, and choosing adoption. Again with the *completeness*, but so not what I need at all. Great chapters for those of you choosing those options, lots of information. Just not for me. A nice large chapter on the widowed mother, as well. All of these chapters give great information on how to get started researching, how to talk to the kids about these specific situations, how to get help, etc.

Part 2 has chapters on mothers-to-be, naming the baby and babyproofing the house, working moms and postpartum depression. Again with the good info, again with the "not what *I* need" thing. Also in this part are how to improve your self-esteem, finding resources, how to deal with finances, and ideas for who to move in with/where to move if you and child are low on cash and need help.

Part 3 covers child care, ages and stages, schools and dealing with teachers, and very few pages about teenagers and nothing on tweens at all.

It goes on to dealing with the "where's daddy" questions, which is a very good chapter. Should you lie? Mistakes to avoid when discussing daddy, and how to explain a bit about divorce, if you weren't married to the father, you don't know the identity of the father, adoption and insemination questions, or if the dad has passed away. All very good ideas and suggestions in this part.

There are two short chapters on mothers raising daughters, and mothers raising sons. A bit more in this chapter about adolescence but not much.

Part 4 goes over custody and coparenting issues and child support. There is a pretty big chapter on "the ex from hell" ! It's a cute chapter, but full of stereotypes and I didn't find it helpful, even though I have one of those ex's.

There is also a chapter on dealing with the ex-inlaws, which was somewhat helpful. It goes over dealing with holidays, and even goes so far as to go into dealing with your ex's new significant other, sharing discipline with the stepparent, and reminds you that you are still the MOM!

Then there's the chapter reminding you that it's ok for you to date and have sex. How to deal with the fact that you have a boytoy! LOL! "When it's platonic - but your kids wish it was more." Lots and lots of dating stuff, from married men to gay men. Of course nothing about whether you've decided you like girls yourself. Guess this was written too early for that kind of thing.

It goes on with remarriage, and ends with "expanding your world", for example going back to school, finding "a spiritual home", and having another child.

All in all, I wouldn't recommend this to any woman who has been a single mom for a while already. We already know most of this stuff. For anyone just starting out, this might be a great resource, but it's not very emotionally uplifting and didn't leave me feeling connected to any other single moms out there. I'll be using the "recommend another book instead of this one" tool (:

Hope this was helpful!


Rating:
Summary: NO USEFUL info, all oipinionated fulff!
Review: someone bought this for me, and as a single mom, when i needed encouragement, this book just sounded like a political fiction tooting its own platform's horn. tiny advise columns with no real life advice, no real sources for help or information either!! thats why i resold my copy. as a single mom, you face troubles that need solutions, not fluffy comments and skewed statistics.

Rating:
Summary: A Single Mother's Bible - Keep it near you at all times!!
Review: The Complete Single Mother sits on my nightstand and I use it as a bible. I recommend it to any single Mom I meet. I refer to it for help in raising my two sons, in dealing with their father, and in any other situation I face as a single Mom. I truly appreciate the wealth of information it contains. Andrea Engber writes from her experience and does a tremendous job! This book is certainly a must for any single Mom!

Rating:
Summary: One stop shopping for practical answers
Review: This book was incredibly helpful for me- it deals with so many issues in an empowering and realistic way. I recommend this book to anyone facing motherhood alone or nearly alone- after reading it, you will feel like you can do it all and keep your sanity, too!

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read for all single moms!
Review: This is a wonderful book for all single moms. I am in a single moms group and anytime a new mom joins us I recommend this book. It touches on so many of the important topics that single moms face. I just can not say enough how important this book was to me when I first found myself as a single mom! This is probably one of the best single parent books out there!

Rating:
Summary: A must-have for single mothers!!
Review: This is a WONDERFUL, WONDERFUL book for single parents! (especially mothers) It doesn't matter how you became a single mom, it will help you. This book is the most helpful that I have read. It is also very encouraging and worth every penny you pay for it. I wish I had read it years ago when I first got divorced. In a time when we are crucified for being single parents, this book is very positive.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for never-married single mothers
Review: When I was pregnant I read a lot of books for single mothers and learned so many out there are for divorced mothers where the father is largely in the picture.
This is the best book I found for single, never-married mothers where the father does not play a large role, if any. There is a chapter for divorced mothers, adoption, donor insemination, and widowed mothers. And many other chapters for all single mothers.
There is a wonderful chapter to help explain where their father is. Which I am sure will come in handy in a few years when my son wants to know why his father is not around.
I have loaned this book out to other single mothers and recommend it to all single mothers.

Rating:
Summary: By choice or chance, this book has the answers
Review: Whether a single mom by choice or chance, if you're unmarried, divorced, widowed, or an adoptive or donor-inseminated mom, this book has all the answers to your most difficult questions and even to some you haven't yet thought of! Meet your newest companion, The Complete Single Mother!