Customer Reviews

Family Manager's Guide for Working Moms

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I've read several of Kathy's books and what I like about her is that she's refreshingly normal. It's packed full of so many tips on so many topics that I will never buy another book on home management. This book, like the original Family Manager book, deals with real issues, such as how you run a home when you can't really afford to hire help (by getting your family to work as a team--and she talks about how you do that). She talks about business concepts and models and how to apply them to your home life in language you're more likely to hear from a friend than a high-powered business consultant. (I especially like the section where she transfers business skills to home life, and vice versa--but I guess that's just the career counselor in me:) Plus, you have permission not to have a "picture perfect" house if doing so means that you'd drive your family crazy, to stop comparing yourself to the lady down the street and either ask her to be a mentor to you or discover that your priorities are different and that's OK. But best of all is the sentence on page 180, where she says, "my hunch is that children of two-career moms learn more independent living skills sooner because two-career moms need help with. . .everything. . ." If you're working for the right reasons and motives, then this can be good for your kids. And I like that.

I bought this book because I was hoping to pick up tons of practical tips that I could apply to my everyday life as a working mom, but I found that it merely rehashed things I've read in every woman's magazine time and time again: plan ahead, make casseroles for the freezer, delegate, etc. etc. I much preferred Working Mothers 101.

I too was disappointed with this book. I am a full-time mother, so I could not relate to her perspective as a "dual-career" mom. Much of what she wrote about was just not helpful, and I really can't imaging it being helpful for a "working" mom either. I cannot recommend this book.