Customer Reviews

If I'm Diapering a Watermelon, Then Where'd I Leave the Baby?: Help for the Highly Distractible Mom

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I have discovered your great conspiracy! I now know your secret method for boosting book sales. After hearing you speak at a convention, I ran home and requested your book for the distractable mom from the library. I was surprised to find that I had to wait behind 3 others, but I was hopeful that I would get a call any day from the library to come pick up my requested book. After a month, I checked my account, shocked to find that I was STILL behind 3 people. At my next visit, I asked the librarian what the status of the book was. She said at that point, it was 6 weeks late and they were losing hope of having it returned. About a month later, I had moved up one notch. The librarian said they had bought a new copy. 3 months later, the (second) book finally made it back. At last, I was only 1 slot away from checking out your book! I'm sad to report that it's been 4 months now. I've finally given in and just bought a darn copy. I doubt the library will be able to keep this book in stock! I've come to realize that I probably saved myself $20 in late fees by purchasing it. It's a genius ploy- a book for the mom too distracted to bring it back to the library!

Thanks!

Shannon

Why is it that:

--The clothes I tried so hard to get back into (after having a baby) are now out of style?
--I can NEVER get caught up on laundry, dishes or sleep?
--My brain turned to mush just as soon as my second son was conceived?
--I can never find the remote control, but I can find a lego in the middle of the night--with the tender part of my foot?!
Oh, well--this is a chaotic stage of life. I'm trying to embrace the chaos and not get bogged down in it. To help in that endeavor, I've been reading a really funny, practical book. The title is great--it's a Mommy Question extraordinaire: If I'm Diapering a Watermelon, Then Where'd I leave the Baby? by Carol Barnier The subtitle is "Help for the Highly Distractible Mom." I love it!
Often, I've found myself wondering why I couldn't be a little more like Martha Stewart (in her pre-prison days!) and less like Lucy Ricardo. I mean, I can get into trouble faster than anyone I know! I really try to be organized and "with it"--but it doesn't happen very often. I lose my purse, my keys, and my cellphone regularly. Sometimes, I think I might lose my head if it wasn't attached. So if you're a highly distractible mom like me, take comfort in this thought from Barnier: "Your children were placed in your home by a wise and all-loving God who knew what He was doing. There is something your children are supposed to absorb from your love of life and spontaneity that they will need if they are to become what God has intended for them. . . And there are people to be reached for the kingdom who are tailor-made to be attracted to your spontaneous, casual, delight-filled ways." Spontaneous moms, rock on!!!

This book is not only hilarious, but so, so practical. After I read it, I immediately ordered 3 copies for friends. Do your worn out, forgetful brain a favor and order this book!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It is a very encouraging book for those who have many things going on in their lives. It was instrumental in giving me several practical ideas for managing the smaller details in life. Great book and I highly recommend it for those struggling with "keeping it all together". It will give you inspiration and keep you entertained!

Great book! This book is not for those who have Martha Stewart homes. It's for the rest of us who approach our lives realistically, with kids, homeschooling and life getting in the way of those serene homes we hear other people talk about. It's not a comprehensive how-to-organize-the-entire-home book, but rather chapters with practical tips about mothers like us can bring a little order into our lives. Her writing is hilarious. I laughed out loud many times. The chapters are short, making them easily digestible between kid-related crises in the home.

This book had some laugh-out-loud moments. I really enjoyed reading it. She didn't offer me too many new ideas that solved my scatter brained problem. A good deal was commonsense, but she does make you feel more accepting of your short comings. And there were a few good ideas to put into practice that would help organize. A great read, but don't look for it to transform your life.

Do you know how it feels to go to a spinning class and the instructor is a size 0, never has given birth, and calls out instructions in a boot-camp style, saying, "anyone can do this, be like me". Barnier doesn't do that. Instead she acknowledges that we will lose things, we need to limit our interruptions, and we need wider margins in our lives with less activities so we can do the things we love the best well.

The thing is, you do get help, but the person leading you to a more organized life has "given birth, did have a few extra pounds to lose, and loves Turtle cheesecake better than tofu".

Thank goodness!

There's a home schooling section that doesn't apply to me, but may apply to you, but this is really a great tool. And I love that she added some easy recipes and fun activities for the mom with younger children. It's a fun book. Carol promises this:

To help women work with their personality traits rather than against them to make it possible to: keep track of items; actually arrive on time or even early; access information that you need when you need it; limit pesky interruptions; get stuff to organize itself; and run a home and have fun doing it.

The author and I are nothing alike (I'm the type-A mom she doesn't like), but I like her approach of trying to get a life organized that seems a little too full of "life". She has helpful hints that even the most disorganized mom can attempt. Don't try it all, find what you like and start small. I don't homeschool but I still read all of the book to see if there were adaptable organizing tools. I have a 6,5,&2 year old. I LOVED declaring a boredom day, striving for early and trying to give my family margins. Some of her techniques were not easily usable for kids under 7 or 8.

In this humorous, yet helpful book, Carol offers many innovative ideas to aid in managing a home and homeschool.

This book is great! I laughed so hard while getting very practical ideas. The best thing about this book for me was that it made me realize that I am not the only distractable mom. Now I can embrace my own gifts and stop trying to be someone I am not.