All Mothers Work: A Guilt Free Guide for the Stay at Home Mom [Paperback]

Cindy Ramming (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 1996

Helps parents reevaluate the pros and cons of giving up an outside job for full-time parenting, providing advice on handling family reactions, staying in touch with the outside world, and making extra money from home.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Caring for Kids In All Mothers Work: A Guilt-Free Guide for the Stay-at-Home Mom, Cindy Ramming, former accountant, current at-home mom, delivers encouragement and counsel to those women who have decided not to return to the workplace after the birth of a child. Despite the title, she also discusses issues that challenge mothers working outside the home: guilt, juggling competing demands of one's outside job, family, home and self. An appendix includes a list of ideas for home-based businesses and those that get one out of the house. Buying for kids is just like buying for adults. Except their interests change from week to week. And their bodies change from month to month. And they have no resistance to peer pressure. Or any understanding of the value of money. In The Smart Shopper's Guide to the Best Buys for Kids, Sue Robinson, the editor and publisher of Kid News, a national newsletter on consumer bargains for children's merchandise, offers her advice on hunting for pint-sized bargains. In chapters on clothes, furniture, travel, toys, food and more, she offers general advice and caveats (as well as styling tips and recipes) combined with geographically grouped listings of stores and services. For kids whose diets are restricted by food allergies, Mary Harris and Wilma Nachsin have developed such permissible treats as Gingersnaps and Toffee Squares in "My Kid's Allergic to Everything" Dessert Cookbook. Included with recipes for cupcakes, brownies, pies and a variety of flavorful breakfast options are substitutions for flours, sugars, leaveners, chocolate, dairy products, etc. There is also information on safe cleaning products and pesticides, shopping tips and a list of resources. Forewords by Drs. Rebecca Hoffman and Ida Mary S. Thoma discuss the medical aspects of asthma and allergies and explain how to detect offending foods.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Ramming's heartfelt examination of the choices that working mothers face is addressed to women who are not compelled to work outside the home for financial reasons, yet the questions it raises are ones that any parent might consider. The expenses of going to work, lifestyle wants versus needs, the attendant emotional costs, and overload and stress are all legitimate reasons, Ramming says, for giving up outside work. On the other hand, unrealistic expectations of being at home, loss of self-esteem on account of "losing" paying work, overwork at volunteerism, and quitting work for dubious reasons, such as conflicts in the workplace, are indicators that giving up your day job may not or will not be such a good idea. Ramming draws heavily on her own experience and insight to frame the pros and cons of staying home, and she lightens her advice with a lively sense of humor. Kathryn Carpenter

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 166 pages
• Publisher: Avon Books (P) (December 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380779870
• ISBN-13: 978-0380779871
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,274,923 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable food for thought, June 13, 2000

By 

Rosemary Amey (Toronto) - See all my reviews

This review is from: All Mothers Work: A Guilt Free Guide for the Stay at Home Mom (Paperback)

All Mothers Work manages to affirm stay-at-home motherhood, without needing to put down mothers who work outside the home. Cindy Ramming has been both a stay-at-home mom and a working-outside-the-home mom, and knows whereof she speaks. Her informal, intimate, and humorous style makes this book a quick read. The first half of the book helps the reader decide if staying at home is for her, the second half has practical supportive advice for those who do decide to "stay at home" (including a key secret--to be a successful "stay at home" mom, you need to get out of the house!). Unlike so many books for mothers which create idealized perfectionistic standards, All Mothers Work is realistic and supportive--Rammings admits some of her own foibles, too, which we can all identify with. The only reason I gave the book 4 instead of 5 stars was that it was shorter than I would have liked.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Because you're not "Just a Mom", June 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: All Mothers Work: A Guilt Free Guide for the Stay at Home Mom (Paperback)

An excellent source for women looking into the possibility of staying home, the book is also great for women who had already decided to do so. Great for stay-at-home women who, when asked what do they do, say "I'm just a Mom". It helped me to live with my own decision of quitting my job (and leaving behind a career) to take care of my daughter. Three cheers for Cindy Rammings!

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not just for working mothers, but the ones already at home., March 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: All Mothers Work: A Guilt Free Guide for the Stay at Home Mom (Paperback)

As a stay at home mom, I didn't think this book was for me, I had already made my decision. But as I read it, I was encouraged and affirmed in my choice to stay home and raise my children. Ramming also had some advice to help make the job easier.