MOMumental: A Book Review and Giveaway

~~ This Giveaway Is Now Closed ~~

Recently I was blessed to become a member of a Thomas Nelson and Worthy Publishing group of book reviewers and today, have the first of those book reviews for your reading pleasure. The name of the book is MOMunmental and it was written by Jennifer Grant, a mother of four and a feature writer for the Chicago Tribune.

Now, you are probably wondering why in the heck a person who is not a mother is reviewing a book geared towards mothers. Well, that's a good question. This particular book was the first book offered to this newly formed group and I was so excited to participate and host a giveaway that I honestly didn't even think about the topic until I had already agreed to have a review and giveaway here on my blog. However, it didn't turn out so bad because the book was quite delightful and even though I'm approaching the age of ancient, I do still hope and pray to one day be a mother and I think this book was a wonderful and honest insight into how you can plan and picture yourself with a perfect neatly pressed and jovial family, but in reality that's not ever how it turns out and that's not necessarily a bad thing as my dad would say.

Grant opens up with an introduction that provides insight into her childhood of being a latchkey kid of divorced parents. She then goes on to give a brief description of the idea she formed of the perfect family and how she wanted her family to be once she had one of her own. Obviously, things didn't really turn out as she had planned, but in my opinion, and I'm sure she would agree, her family dynamic turned out quite well. Thanks to the very insightful observation of one of her young sons, she came to the realization that what matters is what you do most of the time, not just every now and then that really matters. In other words, lead by example; isn't that a philosophy that we hear in church all the time anyway? So, why not apply it to parenting as well?

Grant tells personal stories from her own family as well as stories about the families of her friends and family members to convey the message that yes, as a parent, you will screw up from time to time, but in the long run it's not going to ruin your kids. It's doubtful your child will need years of therapy because you stepped on one of their toys and broke it - no matter how guilty you may feel about the situation. I found this very real look into the lives of parents to be refreshing and not some bottled up version of parenting that is forced down the throats of so many parents in this day and age of striving for perfection. I know I didn't grow up in a perfect family and I'm sure you didn't either and you know what, I turned out okay (please don't comment if you disagree! HA!).

Throughout the book, Grant demonstrates what it's like to be an imperfect, yet a good parent and isn't that what we all want anyway - to be a good parent or to have good parents. There is so much pressure on people to live a life of perfection these days and I think this messy approach to child rearing and realistic look at family life is what made this book so relatable. This book is like a breath of fresh air in showing people that you don't have to be a Stepford Wife in order to have a well-balanced, healthy and happy family. I found the book to be quite enjoyable and laughed out loud and some of the stories that Grant told. I could easily relate to a lot of the stories as many of them could have taken place in my own childhood home.

If you would like to read a sample of the book click here. The book is available at all major retailers such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble.

Thanks to the lovely people at Worthy Publishing, I not only received a copy for myself, but also a copy to give away to one lucky reader! All you have to do is leave a comment on this post between now and Friday, May 18th at 9:00 p.m. Central Time. I will choose a winner using Random.Org and will announce the winner after the comments are closed.

Thanks for reading and good luck!