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| Jenny Lee Sulpizio |
I’ve shared Jenny Lee Sulpizio’s picture books here in the past — Something About a Boy and Mommy Whispers.
Today, I wanted to share her latest nonfiction book: Confessions of a Wonder Woman Wannabe: On a Mission to Save Sanity, One Mom at a Time (Leafwood Publishers, 2013).
I don’t want to say it’s a manual for moms, but it certainly is a fountain of ideas! If you want to be Wonder Woman, Jenny doesn’t give you a roadmap to that superhero title. Instead, with each chapter she offers specific tips on how to organize, simplify, and survive some of the challenges of motherhood.
Jenny’s sense of humor, faith, and commitment to mothers shines through on each page. The book is written in a conversational tone.
Jenny’s tips aren’t written in stone for mothers, but she certainly gives a good foundation with her lists and charts to begin our own motherhood journey or to break free of some of our Wonder Woman Wannabe issues.
A passage I loved early in the book:
But who told me I needed to be perfect? And who said that my best wasn’t going to be good enough? It certainly wasn’t God. Nope, that person was me. I was a new mom struggling to become “super” . . . and I was losing the battle, big time.
An idea I really liked:
Cuckoo Prevention Kits — One for kiddie crises combative and one for sanity-saving mommy must-haves. I laughed out loud about the tip to have a chocolate stash in the car and in summer months try a Tootsie Roll. Perfect.
Many of the chapters have lists of tips on how to deal with everything from cleaning out and stocking up the minivan to how to take a time out when you are frazzled and frustrated. Many items on Jenny’s list is workable into my schedule. Now, if I will only implement some of her cleaning tips. Her ideas definitely gave me food for thought in my own motherhood adventure.
Jenny’s writing style feels like a conversation I would have with my mom friends at church. I related to most of the topics in the book. I don’t drink coffee, so the chapter on caffeine didn’t do much for me. I know I’m weird. For those, who do drink coffee, you’ll like that chapter.
The book is a fast read. I feel like it could also be digested in chunks too. You could read a few chapters, see how the tips fit into your life, and then read a few more.
I received an advance digital copy of the book for my honest review. Since, I enjoyed reading the book, I’d like to have a giveaway. Leave a comment and I’ll do a random drawing. I’ll keep the comments open until Sept. 19 at noon (MST). I’ll post the winner on Sept. 20 (and contact the winner to arrange delivery).
In the spirit of saving a mom’s sanity: Consider sharing something you do to save your sanity that could help another mom.
I’ll start. My son loves a pair of hand-me-down slippers. I don’t argue with him about wearing them in public. Not fighting over his shoe choice saves me a little sanity and time.
As toddler tornado says before bedtime, “One more book.”
Oh, wait, I was trying to say, “One more thing.” If you buy a copy of the book online, you can email a copy of the receipt to Jenny for a chance to win this ebook bundle.
Stacy that sounds wonderful! I wish I could rewind and have bought it back when I first had Matthew. A new thing I do when the kids start annoying each other is pretend to be an annoyed kid. Rapping instructions gets their attention too.
Congrats, Jenny!
I would love to hear you wrap Catherine. That’s a fun idea.
This sounds like a terrific book, Stacy! I think we can probably all use help with our wonder woman issues (and I can certainly use help with my cleaning :)) I’d love to win the book. Let’s see… a mom tip… one thing I did with my kids to control use of electronics was to say they could only use their game boys in the car while we were driving (no sitting in the car in the driveway and playing :)) This way, they were allowed electronic game time at a time when options for better activities were pretty limited and we left it in the car. That was the rule. And then I didn’t have to argue with them about how much game time in the house.
I told Hubby about this electronic idea.
Love the sound of this book! Wish I had had it when my boys were young. I still Wanna be Wonder Woman though. Now when the kids are grown and married. there are so many things I want to do!!
My mom tip is that I would have paper towels and water in the car and the toddlers would “clean” the windows while we drove places. And another was burning a candle during dinner while they were good eating and waiting till everyone was finished. when the candle burned all the way down we would get a lego treat, a lego kit for each of them. It made dinner time fun and hassle free.
Love to see your posts, Stacy!!
Have a great day!
Clar, I like the window idea. My son tends to clean the window with whatever snack is in his hand. 🙂
Love the Cuckoo Prevention Kit. Going to the grocery store when my son was a toddler was not easy–he always wanted to be running around. He didn’t like sitting in the shopping cart. At all. Until I gave him a mini can of Pringles. It turned into his once a week treat and made shopping so much easier. 🙂
Pringles are a great idea!
What a great gift book for mothers! I like the idea that the book feels conversational — mother to mother. I didn’t have to deal with electronics like parents do today. Things were a little simpler. When we traveled, I always gave my daughter her own disposable camera to take pictures and gave her a book to record her the trip with her own pictures. Kept her busy.
I love the idea of giving them their own way to document a trip. The bonus: you get a better idea of what they see on trips!
I’m with Catherine – where’s the rewind button??
My sanity saver was to put each of their bedside lamps on a timer. Each night when they got in bed they could read or play until the timer turned the light out – then it was time to stay in bed and sleep!
Downfall = Daylight savings time which ALWAYS messed me up on jumping ahead vs. falling back
We will need this timer idea too!.
Great tips. I am a good kid. A perfect kid. I never do anything wrong (hee hee). My Mom is totally and always sane around me (90% of the time). 🙂
I’m sure you are a great kid Erik! Mom’s are always sane about 90 percent of the time!
I’m glad my kids are too old for me to need this now, but it looks like a super fun book! And my sanity tip isn’t much of one since those toddler and tantrum days are over, but I tried to always have their favorite soothing music and some favorite books with me when we went out. Nothing tamed the savage beast better!
Soothing music and books – That also works for Moms too!
Great recommendation. I was one of those “perfect” moms who failed everyday. I wished I was more relaxed and had more fun with my wee one. Now he is 15, and I am sure when he is 30 I’ll be saying the same thing. I better chill out. This book sounds like a helpful and lovely guide for any mommys!
There’s still time to relax Sue! Enjoy the day!
Thanks for sharing. I didn’t realize Jenny had a a new book out. It sounds great! And thanks for having a giveaway! As for saving my sanity, I could definitely use tips, too!
Yes. It’s a great book Jennifer!
Can I get a sanity saver kit RIGHT NOW? 😛 Happy Monday…
-Kristin Hankins
We could all use one!
I’m looking forward to signing up for the list! If there’s one thing I like, it’s a list by someone else. My mom tip – I use the free bags that come with some cosmetic purchases to organize my giant bag. They’re usually somewhat flashy and organize my miscellany into less crazy collections.
That’s a great use for all those bags. And, we’re happy when we get to see you Mary Poppins bag in action!
Thanks all for your comments. I’ll announce the winner of the book on Friday, Sept. 20.
Hahaha, Stacy, I missed this one, but what a great book and what a super de duper post! Loved it pal. I’ll have to buy this one myself. Such a great idea for a book. (Wish I’d thought of it!) 🙂