Filed under: Book Review, Work/Life Balance | Tags: amazon, barnes and noble, borders.com, just let me lie down, Kristin van Ogtrop, mommy wears heels, parenting book, real simple, working full-time with children, working mom, working mom parenting book
Written by Kristin van Ogtrop, managing editor at Real Simple magazine, Just Let Me Lie Down: Necessary Terms for the Half-Insane Working Mom, uses insights from her own life to highlight what’s it’s like to have a fulfilling career, great husband, three healthy kids, and, depending on the hamster count, an impressive roster of pets.
This book makes you feel like you are not alone on those days when you have to race home from work, to cook dinner and get everyone off to baseball practice… then have to start the laundry. She reminds you that you need to forget about the office for a time―that is, to “remove your Blackberry/Treo/iPhone/whatever from your person and store it as far away as your neurotic self-will allow.”
A delightful and hilarious take on the craziness of a working mother, Just Let Me Lie Down perfectly captures the joys and frustrations of an entire (exhausted) demographic of the working mommy. Get the book, and once the little ones go off to bed, lay down with a glass of wine and be prepared to laugh.
My fave quote: “Accounting error: the irrevocable mistake you make when you decide to have one more child than you can actually handle.” My husband and I only have one child, and we are already beginning to know how this feels! 
Book available at:
Filed under: Baby Gift Ideas, Book Review | Tags: amazon, baby book review, baby shower gift, barnes and noble, book review, borbers books, funny baby book, parenting book, the three martini playdate, top baby books
The Three-Martini Playdate: A Practical Guide to Happy Parenting by Christie Mellor is by far one of my favorite parenting books. We are surrounded with books telling us how to raise our children—from how-to guides on what to feed the little one, to what they should be doing at each monthly or weekly milestone. This book is nothing like that… A laugh-out-loud, quick-read, I had this book read one Sunday afternoon while lounging on the couch when I was about 8 months pregnant. It’s a perfect balance between parent and child.
With over 35 mini-chapters of reading, the author takes a very humorous approach on a very serious social problem. Readers watch out; the authors’ in-your-face attitude will leave you laughing, but wonder just how serious she may be. With chapters titled, “Bedtime: Is Five-Thirty Too Early?” and “Child Labor: It’s Not Just for the Third World.,” the author wants you to realize it’s OK to have a little fun and not be a slave to your child. She states that “we were here first” so the question becomes, when did the kids all of a sudden take control?
Yes, times have changed from when children were supposed to be seen and not heard, but lately things seem to be getting a little loco-crazy. I have witnessed parents bow-down to their children―catering to their every need and basically not having a life of their own. This is all because they think their child “needs them” or “doesn’t have time” to do what they should be doing. The Three Martini Playdate is about as polar opposite as can be, urging readers to recruit children to pitch in with household chores (“Cleaning the table of dishes is another excellent task to which you might set your child. Honestly, is there anything more enduring than the sight of a small-statured person whisking away at a dinner party…”) so you can enjoy some quality grown-up, fun time.
One of my personal favorite quotes from the book: “It’s time to warm up the ice cubes, curl up on the sofa, and send darling Spencer into the other room to play by himself.” YES, wake up―you are allowed to have a drink or two. Relax, kick back and enjoy… you deserve it! You are a hard-working mommy! (or daddy… I know there are a lot of those out there.)
Anyway… I highly suggest reading this book, as well as passing it around to new mommies and daddies to remind them it’s a privilege to be our kid… not the other way around. It’s time to take back your life and have a cocktail… maybe two or three! The author’s advice is quite refreshing and actually quite useful, giving you the balance between a parent and child that you need. Get with it… child-rearing can be fun!
**ADDED BOOK BONUS** Includes recipes for “our little tot’s first martini” and “lemonade for grown-ups”—and trust me, the drinks are made strong!
Can be purchased at the following:
P.S. I need to make a shout out here… A special thanks to Shirley who sent me this fabulous book while I was in the stage of a miserable pregnancy… this made my day! I love and adore you! XOXO
