I’ve been sharing some good books for kids of working mothers and so I was naturally curious when Samantha Parent Walravens asked me to review her book, Torn: True Stories of Kids, Career and the Conflict of Modern Motherhood. The fact that it had “true” stories is what drew me to the book and once I received it, I just couldn’t put it down.
This is the book that made me understand that it isn’t just kids of working moms who have a tough time, it is the working mom herself who has it the toughest. My respect and admiration for fulltime working mothers just went up a lot.
Real Mothers Talk About Careers and Kids
One of the first things that impresses you about Torn is that it is a compilation of essays written by moms in the real world and about how they deal with the balancing act, the juggling of schedules and the ever-present exhaustion and guilt.
Torn brings to you real working moms and their lives, it shows you how they do it or don’t do it.
“My friends have named me Mommy CEO and joke about how I “do it all”. If they could only see me racing into a morning meeting I scheduled, tired and lacking a shower because I was up all night with one of the kids, with spit-up all over my shoulder.” – Sabrina Parsons
“…a reminder that I needed to reevaluate how I view the priorities adn responsibilities in my life. But most importantly, it was a reminder that sometimes I just needed to slow down…” – Sara Esther Crispe
Dealing with Mom Guilt, Super Mom Syndrome and Staying-at-Home
Torn is not a how-to manual. It is a how-they-do-it resource. It aims to show how moms in today’s world work hard to create their own identities while dealing with age-old emotions of guilt, doing-it-all and what stay-at-home moms deal with on a day-to-day basis. It takes you inside the homes of moms who, like you and me, try to do the best they can…every day.
From Working Moms You and I May Know and Relate To
Despite the fact that I am not working fulltime, I do have a real job, a small business, a family and a home to take care of. So yes, to say that my plate is full would be somewhat of an understatement. I deal with feelings of guilt when my toddler watches an extended hour of television as I meet deadlines, battle exhaustion as I rush from a play date to a client meeting on Skype and turn a blind eye to the dust on the dresser because I know I have a pressing project to finish instead.
I know how these moms must feel and more than once felt tears well up as I read their stories, touching and poignant, funny and thoughtful. The essays are from moms who are like you and me, you’ll find yourself in one of the essays and you’ll feel reassured, encouraged and most importantly, understood.
About Samantha Parent Walravens
An award-winning journalist, writer and mother of four, Samantha is a graduate of Princeton University and University of Virginia. Her writings have appeared in PC World, Salon.com, Healthy Women, the Huffington Post, Urban Baby, Yahoo! News and several other blogs. Follow her on Twitter at @nosuperwoman, connect with her on Facebook or visit her website at http://samanthawalravens.com/main/
Buy Torn: True Stories of Kids, Career and the Conflict of Modern Motherhood
Disclosure: The Mom Writes received a copy of Torn for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received.
Wow….sounds like an awesome book Prerna….and I am sure it will help me a lot since I am a full time working mom who feels guilty at times for leaving a sick toddler with a babysitter because I have to complete some pressing submissions.
Well you can’t have it all….SAHM have their own set of worries….WAHM have theirs and a full-time working mom her set of worries ….. each set of moms need support, empathy and encouragement….everyone is trying to do the best for their home and children.
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You are so right, Ranjeetha. We each have our own set of challenges to deal with and try to do the best we can:-) I do hope you can get a copy of Torn where you are. It is really an insightful, sensitive and beautiful read.