Giving up on Hands Free Mama
I read/skimmed Chapter 2: Make Purposeful Connection. It was about telling her kids and husband that she was going to pay more attention to them, and starting a back and forth journal with her daughter. Also talking to her kids when she is driving. There are too many words in this book, and they're getting too sappy for me.
Today you are presented with a blank page. A beautifully flawed, memorable, and gratitude-filled life is at your fingertips. All you have to do is open your hands. And say yes. Say it loud enough for the world to hear.
While the message she has is one I am receptive to, this sounds too churchy to me. My genX sarcasm meter is reading 11, and I'm starting to flip pages to find something that will make me think instead of turning me off.
I am simply the messenger on this Hands Free journey, and it is by the grace of God and four little carpool girls that I have this message to give.
So, yeah, this book is making me grouchy rather than inspired. So I'm going to rant a bit about the mindful parenting movement. It's supposed to be an answer to tiger moms and helicopter parents. We're supposed to throw away all our toys and modern devices and focus with love on our kids. But it's the same pressure! It's never letting parents take a break and zone out. Maybe it's OK to zone out a little while driving and allow your kids to get bored staring out the window. Maybe I shouldn't have to feel guilty that my every spare moment isn't a moment in which I feel pressure to really BE PRESENT. I am present, an awful lot, and I need to zone every once in a while.
I'm not at all rejecting mindful parenting. I will keep learning about it. This book isn't right for me. I should just release it back into the wild like a beautiful butterfly. (Sneak it onto the donations shelf at the library.) And I do want to be more mindful! And to think I even asked a couple friends if they wanted to read this with me and discuss it. Nooo! Not enough wine out there for me to want to have an earnest discussion using this book as my guide.
I'll flip through a little more before putting it down- possibly rant again on here....
Today you are presented with a blank page. A beautifully flawed, memorable, and gratitude-filled life is at your fingertips. All you have to do is open your hands. And say yes. Say it loud enough for the world to hear.
While the message she has is one I am receptive to, this sounds too churchy to me. My genX sarcasm meter is reading 11, and I'm starting to flip pages to find something that will make me think instead of turning me off.
I am simply the messenger on this Hands Free journey, and it is by the grace of God and four little carpool girls that I have this message to give.
So, yeah, this book is making me grouchy rather than inspired. So I'm going to rant a bit about the mindful parenting movement. It's supposed to be an answer to tiger moms and helicopter parents. We're supposed to throw away all our toys and modern devices and focus with love on our kids. But it's the same pressure! It's never letting parents take a break and zone out. Maybe it's OK to zone out a little while driving and allow your kids to get bored staring out the window. Maybe I shouldn't have to feel guilty that my every spare moment isn't a moment in which I feel pressure to really BE PRESENT. I am present, an awful lot, and I need to zone every once in a while.
I'm not at all rejecting mindful parenting. I will keep learning about it. This book isn't right for me. I should just release it back into the wild like a beautiful butterfly. (Sneak it onto the donations shelf at the library.) And I do want to be more mindful! And to think I even asked a couple friends if they wanted to read this with me and discuss it. Nooo! Not enough wine out there for me to want to have an earnest discussion using this book as my guide.
I'll flip through a little more before putting it down- possibly rant again on here....