The 7 Stages of Motherhood : Making the Most of Your Life as a Mom

Rating:
Summary: Extremely Negative, Downright Depressing
Review: I got this book because a friend of mine recommended it. I had positive expectations, but was very dissappointed. The author is EXTREMELY negative about motherhood. When she discusses the various stages of motherhood she really goes on and on about the negatives [and of course there are plenty of those] but she rarely if ever mentions the positive things about motherhood that make it SO worth it.

Her chapter on pregnancy and birth were just depressing - not ALL women experience pregnancy as an unwanted, horrible thing. Not ALL happily married women's first thought upon finding out they are pregnant is that they should have an abortion! Not ALL women feel big, fat, ugly, and completely not sexy during pregnancy. [OK, all of us may feel that way now and then, but many women have a basically very positive experience of pregnancy and birth]. And my word, her section on childbirth was alarmist at best - hysterical is more like it. She likens mothers who have unmedicated childbirth to "barbary macaque monkeys" and sees nothing positive, good, or beneficial coming from childbirth [with or without drugs]. Forget about the "rite of passage", the great reward at the end, and all that good stuff - according to Murphy, its a losing proposition all the way around.

Her chapter on the post partum time period would make a pregnant mom want to slit her wrists - she makes it sound like all mothers hate and resent their babies and spend the whole post partum period neck deep in post partum depression. While post partum depression IS a very serious issue and one that needs to be compassionately handled by all involved, this picture she paints of post partum life is just plain bleak - all the sorrows are categorized at great length and none of the joys are mentioned at all. Very sad and totally unbalanced.

Her section on breastfeeding was especially terrible. Did you know that breastfeeding is awful, painful, and really, really hard? Apparently so. I'm pregnant with my fourth, and breastfed my first three and I really didn't realize this at all. Wow. Needless to say, if you plan to breastfeed, just skip her horror stories.

I finally put the book down without finishing it. A complete waste of money. I couldn't stand the negativism and I really wondered why on earth this woman had children to start with? And WHO thought it was a good idea for her to edit Parents magazine? My children are not parasitic, life destroying organisms that I have to manage so that I can find more ME time - they are amazing, loving, vital, excellent little people. They make my life a true joy [and sometimes a real sorrow, but that's the rollercoaster of motherhood]. They are the best thing that ever happend to me, and I feel sad that apparently not all mothers feel that way.

So, be warned. If you enjoy motherhood for the most part, like your kids on most days, or find anything positive at all in being a mother, this book is likely to just depress you.

Rating:
Summary: The 7 Stages of Motherhood
Review: I greatly enjoyed this book! As a mother of two "tween" girls (stage 6), the chapters in the book about the early years brought back memories of that time with my girls, while the later chapters gave insight and encouragement to parenting them at their current ages and beyond. While some parenting books can be quite dull, this book makes you feel like you're having a conversation with a friend and discussing your mistakes and solutions. The author is not shy about sharing her own mistakes and trials during parenting her two children. She also has many references to parenting publications and suggestions for how to handle trying times.

The author is a former editor-in-chief of Parents magazine, of which I was a subscriber during that time. I remember reading about and seeing photos of her children in the magazine and was surprised to read they are now ages 18 and 14. Wow! Time does march on!

The ultimate message of this book is to enjoy each and every bit of motherhood, good and bad, because you will soon be wondering where the years went.

Enjoy!

Rating:
Summary: i laughed, i cried
Review: i originally checked this book out from my local library when my son was 5 months old and halfway through, i knew that this was a book i needed to have on hand. the authors candid accounts of the different faces of parenthood (miscarriage, first baby, second baby) were refreshingly realistic. this is not a how-to book, Murphy never claims to be a parenting expert (i believe the two words together are an oxymoron) but this book definitely deserves a place on your bookshelf. Its easy enjoyable reading.