Book Review: In Praise of Stay at Home Moms

Book Review: In Praise of Stay at Home Moms – By Dr. Laura Schlessinger

The beginning of “In Praise of Stay at Home Moms” feels more like an attack on the working outside the home mom more than something that will make a stay at home mom feel better about her choice to be a stay at home wife and mother. However the rest of the book really does motivate the stay at home mom.

I personally found the book encouraging me to be proud of my position as a full time wife and mother. Honestly their aren’t very many resources out there ready to provide an encouraging word to the Stay at Home Mom. It also helped me to stop focusing on the negative and stop taking the special gift of being a stay at home mom for granted.

I would have preferred to read more praise for the stay at home mom who takes their job to the next level & decides to homeschool their children. That would be a great book idea “In Praise of the Stay at Home Homeschooling Mom!”

Some of the topics discussed in “In praise of Stay at Home Moms”:

1. The Stay at Home Moms Inner Struggles
2. The Naysayers
3. How Staying at Home Impacts the Marriage
4. How Stay at Home Moms Benefit Kids
5. Being a Stay at Home Mom Changes You
6. The Good, The Bad, The Unforgettable
7. Advice for SAHM’s

All in all I feel this is a great book for the Stay at Home Mom to find the motivation & encouragement they certainly need and deserve. This is also a great book to read if you are on the fence as to whether or not to become a stay at home wife and mom.

I give the book In praise of Stay-at-Home-Moms 2.5 out of 4 stars. It was a great read, however I wasn’t a fan of the negativity towards working outside the home from the first couple of chapters.

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Focus on Christian Marriage: Communication

Communication is the foundation of every good relationship, especially marriage. Too many times we are raised in homes where good communication skills just weren’t made available, due to the fact that parents just didn’t know how to communicate appropriately themselves.

I know for me personally communicating with my husband effectively has been a struggle. I have to make a commitment everyday to try and communicate appropriately with my husband.

Often good communication skills is a difficult skill to learn but all it takes is the commitment to making your marriage better by resolving conflict in a respectful way. How we communicate with our husbands is crucial. Our tone of voice and the words we say can really set the mood for how the conflict gets resolved.

Men often say that having a wife that respects them is one of the things they need in order to be the best husband they can be. If we address conflict in a negative way we will almost certainly end up disrespecting our husbands in the process.

Steps to Effective Communication:

Pray – Sometimes we just need to step back from the situation and ask God to lead us in how we should approach a certain situation that is bothering us.

Approach Respectfully – Even though you may be angry with your husband, still try and make an effort to approach your husband with love and respect. If you read 1 Cor. 13:4-7 we need to be patient with our husbands – patience and respect equals love.

Follow the steps to conflict resolution:

• Let each party express how they feel about the situation. My counselor even recommended using a timer for both individuals. Work to express your feelings without using “YOU” messages. For example instead of saying “I hate it when you treat me that way.” say “When you say this I feel this way.” Own your feelings.
• Next each person needs to express what they will do to help resolve the issue. This isn’t time to try and change the other person. One step towards progress is acceptable and both parties should strive to work towards keeping their promise on what they plan to do to help resolve the conflict.
• Come up with a plan of action. Think of actions, or words you can say to help fulfill your promise on what you are going to do to resolve the conflict. The resolution should be win – win for each person.

We can’t expect to go through our marriage without having to face conflict. God made us different, both with faults and strengths, however made to help each other grow spiritually. Learning effective communication skills will certainly help your marriage grow.

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