Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family [Paperback]

Amy Tiemann (Author)

Book Description

Release date: April 7, 2009

Read Amy Tiemann's posts on the Penguin Blog.

MOJO MOM helps you answer the question, "Who Am I Now that I'm A Mom?"

What is Mommy Mojo? It's the feeling you get when you're a parent at the top of your game, juggling the kids and the many facets of life, and keeping your own needs in balance. Motherhood is a tremendous gift, but it's also a huge identity shift. Becoming a Mojo Mom means bringing your self and your dreams back into focus, while still giving your family the loving attention it needs. It may sound like a fantasy, but it can be done.

Mojo Mom shows women practical ways to:

* Prepare to become a Mom without losing your identity
* Survive and enjoy the intense early years
* Save some of your best energy and creativity for your own ideas and dreams
* Reenter the workplace or take on a new path with confidence and ease
* Learn the key elements to the long-term success of your marriage
* Become a Naptime Activist-and change the world in just an hour a week
* Rise above the "Mommy Wars" between stay-at-home and working moms
* Use motherhood as an opportunity for reinvention
Getting your mojo back is not just another item for your to-do list-it's your right. Amy Tiemann, MomsRising.org executive team member and founder of MojoMom.com, will help every woman explore her true self.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Becoming a mother is a heart-changing event. Mojo Mom is the essential guide that gives each reader the tools and inspiration she needs to get her personal mojo back, and make a positive difference in the world."
--Joan Blades and Kristin Rowe- Finkbeiner, co-founders of MomsRising.org

"Amy Tiemann brings a scientist's mind, a seeker's eye and a mother's heart to her work as a writer and commentator on the issues that matter most to women."
--Karen Maezen Miller, author of Momma Zen: Walking the Crooked Path of Motherhood

"Mojo Mom is a much-needed catalyst for living the precious gift of personal power we each long for at every stage of life. Give this book to every Mom you know- but give it to yourself first!
--Zainab Salibi, Founder of Women for Women International

"Mojo Mom hits the spot, for any mom who needs a friend. It's honest, personal, political, caring, and inspirational, all at the same time. This is the mom-book to keep at your bedside."
-Miriam Peskowitz, author of The Truth Behind the Mommy Wars and coauthor of The Daring Book for Girls

About the Author

Before Amy Tiemann became a mom, she earned her PhD in Neurosciences from Stanford University, and later taught high school. Today, through her seminars and interactive website, Amy helps other women discover and reclaim a strong self as they grow as mothers and individuals. She is emerging as a major voice for Gen X and Gen Y mothers, and has been interviewed for The Today Show, The CBS Early Show, and the The Wall Street Journal, and covered by The Boston Globe, The Denver Post, Parents, Pregnancy, Glamour, Women's Day, and more. She has written bylined commentaries for The Huffington Post, CNET, Literary Mama, and Women's E-News, among others. In addition to her extensive blogging on MojoMom.com, her podcasts have been downloaded over 50,000 times. Tiemann is a member of the executive team of Momsrising.org, an advocacy group with over 140,000 members that is adding over 1,000 new members each week. She lives in Chapel Hill, NC.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Gotham; 1 edition (April 7, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592404553
• ISBN-13: 978-1592404551
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #305,395 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 20 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Mojo Mom stands out June 22, 2005

By S. Grant

Format:Hardcover

As an editor at a parenting magazine, I see hundreds of parenting books each year, but Mojo Mom stands out as a personal favorite. Many moms read about pregnancy, delivery, newborn development, potty training, discipline, but forget to pick up a book about what's happening to mom.

For a job that is so life-changing, so consuming, so challenging, there are very few books with thoughtful, practical advice about how to take care of ourselves - I found Mojo Mom hit the target beautifully. Tiemann writes like a best girlfriend, a coach, an expert, and fellow mother about the earth-shattering shifts to a mother's identity and how to nurture that tremendous change with down-to-earth, thoughful advice.

I recommend this book to expecting moms, new moms, any woman with children. Chapter 8 "Keeping Your Resume Fresh and Your Financial Future Secure" is particularly inspiring, especially if you've taken a step back from your career to raise children, but want to be prepared for the next stages of your life. Chapter Five, "Centering, Silence and Reclaiming Your Mind Space" is a wonderful chapter if you're drowning in demands, not only from family, friends and work, but from noise, media, news. Chapter Two, "Life Inside the Cocoon: The Early Months of Motherhood" is an essential read for expecting and new moms.

What grabbed me about Mojo Mom was the subtitle, "Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family." Everyone tells us to enjoy these years with our children, and Mojo Mom is a wonderful "how-to guide" to show us how to do that. Plenty of references, resource, suggestions, advice, insights, and easy-to-read chapters. Highly recommended.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Moms need nurturing, too! May 8, 2009

By Florinda

Format:Paperback

One accusation often leveled at "bad mothers" is selfishness. But there's a selfishness of self-importance and superiority, and a selfishness that simply acknowledges that one's self is just as important as anyone else's. The subtitle of Amy Tiemann's book refers to the second kind of selfishness; it's the idea that we're actually better nurturers of our families and communities when we don't lose ourselves in the process.

Acknowledging that motherhood changes our identities, Tiemann's premise is that change doesn't have to equal loss. Even when we're overwhelmed by the exhaustion and demands of early motherhood, we need to recognize that our own needs and wants still exist - and deserve time and attention. It's not going to be like this forever, and self-care is the first basic step in ensuring that a sense of self remains healthy.

Tiemann's tone throughout the book is knowledgeable and encouraging, rather than authoritative and insistent. Beginning with the early-motherhood period she calls "the cocoon," she suggests that this time of intense mother-and-child togetherness can also be a time when we re-evaluate who we are and who we want to be. The changes motherhood brings can help us focus on how we want to go forward as ourselves. And despite the somewhat New-Age-y way I've put that, Tiemann's approach is very practical. She discusses ways to handle guilt and anxiety, claiming time and "mind space," and discovering outlets for self-expression. She examines relationships with partners, money, and the larger community, and suggests that at-home-mom/working-mom "mommy wars" may be fighting the wrong enemies. She offers references and resources in every chapter, as well as illustrative anecdotes.

I would recommend this book for mothers-to-be and new moms as a little nudge to care for themselves during this wild transitional time. However, motherhood has a number of transitional times - as do the childhoods is parallels - and Mojo Mom's ideas and guidance could be valuable to mothers whose children are emerging into the pre-school and school-age years, and even mothers of teens and those on the verge of emptying nests. Amy Tiemann's book suggests that it's never too late to locate and nurture your Mommy Mojo.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Get your mojo back May 2, 2006

By Cathe Fein Olson VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback

I bought this book and literally could not put it down. Even before I finished, I started putting Amy's suggestions into practice. And the small changes I've made have already made a difference. I am examining all the things I do and determining which activities are really necessary and bringing me (or my kids) enjoyment. I'm realizing how important it is to have an identity other than mom - not that being a mom isn't a great or important thing but just that we are still our own person too.

I so recommend this book for all moms. It would make a great shower gift too. There are tons of books about taking care of your children, your body, etc. This one tells you how to nurture your spirit and gives practical ways that you can do it no matter what the age of your children are or what your situation is.

This would be a wonderful Mothers' Day gift too!