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lisawhelpley's review against another edition
5.0
I LOVED LOVED LOVED this book! Kristin van Ogtrop captures the lives of working mothers perfectly. It's funny but not just a joke book at all. Great perspective.
vll295's review against another edition
3.0
I think that I got this for Free for the Kindle. It was an interesting read.
simplymary's review against another edition
4.0
I've always loved Kristin van Ogtrop's editorial in Real Simple magazine, and have wanted to read this book for a while. I'm glad I waited until I was a working mother to read it, because that's the intended audience. She puts the book in a creative format (reads like a glossary) and has a funny, honest writing style. She explores the tensions of moms who work: the good, bad, and ugly that go along with dividing your precious hours between kids and career. Sad sometimes without meaning to be.
merricatadamtine's review against another edition
3.0
let me say that most of these terms work for all moms, working or not. And they will give all mom's a much needed laugh!!
karieh13's review against another edition
4.0
This books speaks to my life exactly. I am a working mom, trying that whole “balancing act” thing, and sometimes need a book like “Just Let Me Lie Down” to let me take a step back from the craziness and laugh for a bit.
This book, written as a lexicon, provided a great deal of laughter...balanced by a strong sense of gratitude and love. Van Ogtrop recognizes that as hard as it is sometimes to try to do it all, it also means that she is lucky enough to have it all. A wonderful family and a good job. Both aspects of her life help make her who she is. And along with a good sense of humor, that can make for a crazy, amazing life.
“...there is something tremendously empowering about doing it all, because it means you are making most of the decisions. Would I really want to give up that level of control? I'm not sure. And so, much of my life as a wife and mother is about vacillating between wanting to do everything myself and being really, really mad that no one is helping me.”
And, going back to the title of the book (which I love), sometimes it can just make you tired.
“My father was a fairly heavy smoker for decades until the nagging of his loved ones finally got to him, and he abruptly quit. Years later I asked him if he missed smoking. “Every single day,” he replied. And so I think about sleep in the way I imagine my father thinks about cigarettes: that is, constantly and with extreme longing. Every single day.”
If you are a working mother, or were, or had a working mother, much of this book is going to ring very true for you. I wouldn't suggest reading it in a place where you might be embarrassed by suddenly laughing out loud.
A term - “Midconversation Screen Saver”: “The thing that unexpectedly happens when your husband is talking and suddenly you start thinking about whether you should take that chicken out of the freezer to defrost and if you should wear your black pants to work tomorrow because it's only Monday and you might be able to get away with wearing them twice in one week without anyone noticing if you put enough days in between. Your husband thinks you are still listening but you have gone on screen saver.”
As the oldest child of three, growing up with a working mom, I read Erma Bombeck's books as a kid. There's the same sort of “my family makes me nuts sometimes but I love them fiercely and unconditionally” feel to this book. The author takes a step back every once in a while to look with awe at her life and the most important people in it – her family.
I also appreciated the fact that she recognizes that while aspects of her book apply to many working mothers, she counts herself as very lucky “I do not presume to speak for all working mothers. In my life, hard work (and luck) has reaped real rewards, and not everyone is so fortunate.” But I would be surprised if anyone can't relate to at least a few of the terms in this book.
“...as part of your daily life, stress most often takes the shape of “Why am I running around like a maniac while everyone else watches ESPN?” And that is a Stress Fracture. The key stress fracture in my life happens every morning from 7:15 to 8:40, when the three individuals who have the hardest time getting out the door are moving at radically different speeds: I am a Ferrari, my middle son is a unicycle,and my husband is a hearse.”
And: “To-do Haiku: The list of tasks or semi-important things to remember that replays like a song stuck in your head until you finally find a pen and write it down. For example:”
Pick up dry cleaning
Where are my black boots? At work?
Did we pay that bill?
I very much enjoyed reading this book and think that many other women would as well. In the craziness of life, if you aren't able sometimes to just lie down, try picking this up. Just don't try to read it at the same time you're doing laundry/making dinner/helping with homework/checking a work email.
This book, written as a lexicon, provided a great deal of laughter...balanced by a strong sense of gratitude and love. Van Ogtrop recognizes that as hard as it is sometimes to try to do it all, it also means that she is lucky enough to have it all. A wonderful family and a good job. Both aspects of her life help make her who she is. And along with a good sense of humor, that can make for a crazy, amazing life.
“...there is something tremendously empowering about doing it all, because it means you are making most of the decisions. Would I really want to give up that level of control? I'm not sure. And so, much of my life as a wife and mother is about vacillating between wanting to do everything myself and being really, really mad that no one is helping me.”
And, going back to the title of the book (which I love), sometimes it can just make you tired.
“My father was a fairly heavy smoker for decades until the nagging of his loved ones finally got to him, and he abruptly quit. Years later I asked him if he missed smoking. “Every single day,” he replied. And so I think about sleep in the way I imagine my father thinks about cigarettes: that is, constantly and with extreme longing. Every single day.”
If you are a working mother, or were, or had a working mother, much of this book is going to ring very true for you. I wouldn't suggest reading it in a place where you might be embarrassed by suddenly laughing out loud.
A term - “Midconversation Screen Saver”: “The thing that unexpectedly happens when your husband is talking and suddenly you start thinking about whether you should take that chicken out of the freezer to defrost and if you should wear your black pants to work tomorrow because it's only Monday and you might be able to get away with wearing them twice in one week without anyone noticing if you put enough days in between. Your husband thinks you are still listening but you have gone on screen saver.”
As the oldest child of three, growing up with a working mom, I read Erma Bombeck's books as a kid. There's the same sort of “my family makes me nuts sometimes but I love them fiercely and unconditionally” feel to this book. The author takes a step back every once in a while to look with awe at her life and the most important people in it – her family.
I also appreciated the fact that she recognizes that while aspects of her book apply to many working mothers, she counts herself as very lucky “I do not presume to speak for all working mothers. In my life, hard work (and luck) has reaped real rewards, and not everyone is so fortunate.” But I would be surprised if anyone can't relate to at least a few of the terms in this book.
“...as part of your daily life, stress most often takes the shape of “Why am I running around like a maniac while everyone else watches ESPN?” And that is a Stress Fracture. The key stress fracture in my life happens every morning from 7:15 to 8:40, when the three individuals who have the hardest time getting out the door are moving at radically different speeds: I am a Ferrari, my middle son is a unicycle,and my husband is a hearse.”
And: “To-do Haiku: The list of tasks or semi-important things to remember that replays like a song stuck in your head until you finally find a pen and write it down. For example:”
Pick up dry cleaning
Where are my black boots? At work?
Did we pay that bill?
I very much enjoyed reading this book and think that many other women would as well. In the craziness of life, if you aren't able sometimes to just lie down, try picking this up. Just don't try to read it at the same time you're doing laundry/making dinner/helping with homework/checking a work email.
jbuck1975's review against another edition
5.0
In the time since I became a mother seven years ago I have both worked and stayed home. I worked for the first year and a half of motherhood. After adding a second child to our family and trying a job sharing plan that didn't end up working out as planned which coincided with a decision to relocate across the country and sell our house (which meant I wouldn't be able to stay at that job anyway) I started staying home and I have been home now for a number of years. I know that the clock is starting to wind down to my going back to work outside of the home, but I also know in my heart that right now I am not ready to do that. This book works well for both working outside of the home moms and stay at home moms. I hate the fact that stay at home moms are viewed as not working, as if every day is a day off, but that is a whole different topic.
Kristin van Ogtrop is the editor at Real Simple Magazine and has been working since before her first child was born. Her writing is funny and easy to read. I got through the book in just a few days mostly while I was nursing my son or winding down before bed. Each chapter is arranged with a letter and alphabetical listings of terms for moms. Some examples are "accounting error" when you accidentally have one more child than you can handle, "boredom fantasy" when you remember back to when you were much younger and actually had enough free time to be bored, "ignore the tray" where you must act like a waiter and not look at all that is on your plate otherwise it will all tip- just keep you head up and keep going and you will be fine, and "that-sounds-like-fun-I'll-try it!" where you end up thinking you can do more than you can and end up in a situation that may be uncomfortable or just a pain like having your house renovated while you are still living in it.
Van Ogtrop is really funny, it is nice to read about other mothers who don't feel like they have it all together all the time. I really enjoyed the alphabetical nature of the book, it made it feel organized. Earlier this year I read a book called Mother Daze and this reminded me of that one. It was also written by a working mother who had three children and they both did a good job with relating to the reader and using humor. For all mothers and maybe even all women, there is such a balancing act going on in our lives with how much time to give to our jobs, our families and ourselves and it is so hard to achieve what feels just right for all of those areas and really, sometimes if we just managed to get a bit more sleep it would go smoother but it feels like there isn't enough time to get that rest since so much needs to be done and we just keep going around on this treadmill.
Kristin van Ogtrop is the editor at Real Simple Magazine and has been working since before her first child was born. Her writing is funny and easy to read. I got through the book in just a few days mostly while I was nursing my son or winding down before bed. Each chapter is arranged with a letter and alphabetical listings of terms for moms. Some examples are "accounting error" when you accidentally have one more child than you can handle, "boredom fantasy" when you remember back to when you were much younger and actually had enough free time to be bored, "ignore the tray" where you must act like a waiter and not look at all that is on your plate otherwise it will all tip- just keep you head up and keep going and you will be fine, and "that-sounds-like-fun-I'll-try it!" where you end up thinking you can do more than you can and end up in a situation that may be uncomfortable or just a pain like having your house renovated while you are still living in it.
Van Ogtrop is really funny, it is nice to read about other mothers who don't feel like they have it all together all the time. I really enjoyed the alphabetical nature of the book, it made it feel organized. Earlier this year I read a book called Mother Daze and this reminded me of that one. It was also written by a working mother who had three children and they both did a good job with relating to the reader and using humor. For all mothers and maybe even all women, there is such a balancing act going on in our lives with how much time to give to our jobs, our families and ourselves and it is so hard to achieve what feels just right for all of those areas and really, sometimes if we just managed to get a bit more sleep it would go smoother but it feels like there isn't enough time to get that rest since so much needs to be done and we just keep going around on this treadmill.
khourianya's review against another edition
2.0
For a book whose jacket description sounded so promising - I think this one kind of missed the mark on my expectations. That's not to say it wasn't amusing or insightful, but it was not what I was wanting.
Essentially, the book is directed at working moms. I thought it would be filled with wisdom on how to find my own balance in this world. Instead, I was greeted by alphabetical chapters and a glorified glossary of terms relating to working motherhood. Sure - some of the entries were quite funny, but it just wasn't what I was looking for.
It's a quick read, though - so if you want a witty read to distract you temporarily from working motherhood...nah - this won't even do that. I just can't recommend it. Perhaps as a bathroom reader bought on clearance...then it might be better enjoyed bit by bit.
Essentially, the book is directed at working moms. I thought it would be filled with wisdom on how to find my own balance in this world. Instead, I was greeted by alphabetical chapters and a glorified glossary of terms relating to working motherhood. Sure - some of the entries were quite funny, but it just wasn't what I was looking for.
It's a quick read, though - so if you want a witty read to distract you temporarily from working motherhood...nah - this won't even do that. I just can't recommend it. Perhaps as a bathroom reader bought on clearance...then it might be better enjoyed bit by bit.
khoerner7's review against another edition
2.0
I had big hopes for this book because it was recommended by others. Unfortunately, I did not find it all the funny. The dictionary set up made it a quick read but not the best.