I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper: Loving Your Marriage after the Baby Carriage [Paperback]

Trisha Ashworth (Author), Amy Nobile (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 11, 2009

Best-selling authors Trisha Ashworth and Amy Nobile brought sweet relief to moms with their first book, I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids. Here they return with a frank, yet encouraging look at marriage post-tots. They set out to discover if parenthood has to be incompatible with conjugal blissand if so, how to change that. To find out, they spoke to hundreds of mothers (and quite a few fathers). I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper examines the challenges of modern parenthood for married couples today and it extends a loving hand so that mothers can step out of the madness, make the most of what they have, and learn to love their marriages as much as they love their husbands and kids.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Trisha Ashworth has produced advertising for American Express, PepsiCo, and Levi Strauss & Co. She lives in Northern California with her husband and three children.

Amy Nobile has led public relations programs for Visa, FritoLay, and Webvan. She lives in Northern California with her husband and two children. The authors have been on Oprah, Today Show, 20/20, Rachel Ray, Early Show, Fox News and NPR.

Product Details

• Paperback: 176 pages
• Publisher: Chronicle Books (March 11, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0811867358
• ISBN-13: 978-0811867351
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,763 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fine, but largely unimpressive, May 19, 2009

By 

Nicki Heskin "Editor, Early Childhood and Bre... (Southern California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper: Loving Your Marriage after the Baby Carriage (Paperback)

(What's this?)

To be honest, from the title and look of this book, it wasn't at all what I expected. I thought it was going to be in the genre of "mom-comedy" -- instead it is a somewhat amateur attempt at a self-help book for those having trouble in a marriage with children.

I found the book to be more flash than substance -- heavy cover and paper, heavy on the graphic design, and peppered with "dirty little secrets" and "quizzes." I found all of that to be pretty distracting. The quizzes were largely stupid - not really anything you'd EVER pull out a pencil and take (or if you did, that you'd find helpful). They were just somewhat poorly executed comic relief. The dirty little secrets were weird - not so much helpful in any way, but meant just to catch your attention in an "oh my" sort of way.

The actual helpful text was choppy, broken up with little stories and insets, and hard to get through because of it. Their writing style was actually not bad for the meaty stuff, so I'm not clear why they felt they needed to add in all this nonsense when it would have been a nice read without it.

That said, the info, while helpful I guess, was really nothing new. The authors don't appear to be therapists of any sort, but former advertising execs, who pulled together guidance from others along with some basic common sense.

Overall, I was disappointed in this book, although I liked their writing style enough to be interested in checking out their previous books. If you really want some lighthearted basic advice as a starting point, this might be for you. Maybe they'll be one or two points that resonate with you that can make a difference in your life. But I don't think this book is going to save a marriage, or anything close to it.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Makes a Few Good Points, May 27, 2009

By 

Darena Dorsey "Mom to 2 Boys" (The South, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper: Loving Your Marriage after the Baby Carriage (Paperback)

(What's this?)

I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper is a book written by women for women who need to reconnect with their husbands after having kids.

The authors Trisha and Amy interviewed women and couples to get their views on marriage. The book has quotes from couples, dirty little secrets, and even things that husbands wish their wives knew.

It's an interesting, quick, easy read. It doesn't get that deep into marriage issues or answers but it does make some interesting points like 90% of your problems is not your marriage but your expectation of what your marriage should be.

It probably won't turn your marriage around but it may make a point or two that will help give you a better perspective of what's really going on in your marriage.

7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Lots of descriptions of and complaining about marital problems...few solutions., May 27, 2009

By 

AmazonLover (United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: I'd Trade My Husband for a Housekeeper: Loving Your Marriage after the Baby Carriage (Paperback)

(What's this?)

This book is an easy read and the authors write in an engaging way. However, I found little benefit from reading the book because it provides little to no solutions for the marital problems it discusses at length. In each new chapter a problem is discussed and you find yourself repeatedly saying, "Yea, we have experienced that" or "I have that problem, too" but by the time you reach the end of chapter you realize they provided almost no solutions to the problems.

A serious problem I have with this book are the "dirty little secrets" at the bottom of every other page or so. I feel the title for these should have been "ways to get a divorce fast." Almost every "secret" involves lying to your spouse in hopes you don't get caught. A few examples:

1.) If you don't want to deal with the kids tonight, work late and make your spouse deal with them until they get in bed and then come home.
2.) If your spouse is working late and you don't want to be intimate that night then get in bed early and pretend to be asleep when they get home.
3.) Keep a calendar of the times you are intimate so that if he complains about not getting it enough you have ammunition to prove him wrong.

I definitely would not recommend this book to anyone.