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148 of 177 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely Organized, January 4, 2008
This review is from: Absolutely Organized: A Mom's Guide to a No-Stress Schedule and Clutter-Free Home (Paperback)
I bought this book based on the high product rating in hopes that it would offer me practical solutions for my hectic life with a 3 year old, 2 year old, and 5 month old.
I have to say, while reasonably well written, and easy to read, it is not at all helpful to two sorts of parents:
1. Those working with a limited budget (the author brags about her 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, vacations to Paris, etc)
2. Those who believe in attachment parenting (she offers a rigid schedule for babies. Sleeping through the night at 6 weeks? Really?)
Her cleaning schedule is impractical for those with a smaller home. Cleaning the bathroom once a week might be practical in a home with four bathrooms. It is not in a home where 5 people share one bathroom. Her laundry advice of one time a week is also impractical with three little kids and small house where laundry makes a big mess if not washed and put away daily!
She assumes that if you have a small child in the house, only one child is quite young and the others are older. While this is true of some people, it's certainly not my demographic!
Her scheduling advice for young babies is alarming, dangerous, and unhealthy. She recommends spacing nursing sessions every 4 hours, which anyone with an ounce of common sense knows is very unsafe especially for little babies, and will lead to failure to thrive, malnourishment, and eating issues. She recommends a rigid nap schedule and I strongly suspect she used the brutal and anti-attachment "Crying-it-out" technique at an obscenely young age to achieve it.
Bottom line: if you are wealthy, have a large home, have only one (or no!) young children, and practice detached parenting, this book will probably assist you in your organizational goals.
If you're on a small budget, with a modest home, have more than 1 young child, and believe in treating babies and children with the respect they are due (and, um, not starving them in their formative months) keep looking, because this is not the book for you.
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24 of 26 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Do yourself a favor, get this book!, November 27, 2007
This review is from: Absolutely Organized: A Mom's Guide to a No-Stress Schedule and Clutter-Free Home (Paperback)
A really good book. This book offers practical, actionable, easily implemented everyday things that make your life run smoother. After reading the first chapter, I started using some of the suggestions. They are practical and on the mark. The first thing I did was buy a daily day planner. I was working with a monthly planner for school activities and appointments. With the new planner, as suggested in the book, I planned my week by the hour and included meal ideas. ( When I plan a week's worth of meals, it also gives me a clear shopping list!) It's like a new world opened up to me.
While scheduling my days by the hour, I realized that I'm much busier than I thought, but still found slower sections of the day. (As a mom, you know you're busy, but once you write it down it becomes impressively busy.) Prior to writing it down, I would go through time periods where I would sort of float along, attending to household needs when they arose and then get hit with with work that needed to be done at once. (Like everyone is out of clean clothes and I have 6 loads to do or I'm asked to do a freelance job or worse ... unexpected company!) Now I'm scheduling everything (as suggested in the book), which helps to create balance and provides time management. I also schedule down time! When I was working in an office, I would schedule every minute to maximize output, but when I'm at home, I just didn't think it was needed. I was wrong.
The end result: I'm accomplishing so much more but feeling like I'm doing less... and I feel more accomplished. For example, after planning my day today, I was able to start a wall covering home improvement project, shred 2 yrs worth of paperwork, complete Christmas gift purchases online for my kids. I've also started the organization/clearing out my office ( using the CPR method described in the book). I've also completed the usual stuff that's required: drop offs, pick ups, lunches, dinner, playtime with kids, a work appointment, many phone calls, and four hours of "work". And I'm only half way through the book! Do yourself a favor, get this book!
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18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Waste Another Day-Read this Book Today, November 16, 2007
This review is from: Absolutely Organized: A Mom's Guide to a No-Stress Schedule and Clutter-Free Home (Paperback)
I can just see Oprah visiting Debbie Lillard's home to see her in action!(Does she really practice what she preaches, we all wonder)
Thank you for writing this book! As a new Mom and business owner who works out of my home, my time is more valuable (and scarce) then ever before. Debbie Lillard's great new book is a mandatory read, like Jeff Olson's The Slight Edge or Robert Kiyosaki's Rich Dad, Poor Dad or Napolean Hill's Think and Grow Rich.
Why? It has some of the most practical, useful tips in having a successful life, which of course, all starts at HOME! I wish my Mom of six had this back in the 70s! It would have made her life much easier.
You might imagine a book on organizing to be, well, dry, boring or condescending...but Debbie Lillard's words are compassionate and inspiring - part instructor, part therapist, part cheerleader and ALL MOM. She's pulled great quotes from some of the world's great thinkers which set a strong context for the "why" behind being "absolutely organized."
The book rests next to my combination diaper bag/backpack purse on my desk, next to the baby carriage...This will be a great reference tool for time to come. Not everyone can hire a personal organizer. This is the next best thing! I second Jeanne - already bought 6 copies for family stocking stuffers and will buy many more. Congratulations Debbie. This book will make a profound difference for anyone - not just Moms!
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