Customer Reviews

Mojo Mom: Nurturing Your Self While Raising a Family

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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.

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!

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.

Mojo mom is a must-read for mothers, mothers-to-be, and supporters of mothers who feel that current parenting literature neglects one of the key elements in a healthy, happy household--the mom, herself. When I was pregnant with my first child, I felt simultaneously overwhelmed and underwhelmed with traditional pregnancy and parenting literature--books like What to Expect When You're Expecting gave so much information I felt I couldn't absorb it or ever be the kind of mom they were describing. They also neglected the emotional aspects of mothering. The Girlfriends Guide was a humorous alternative, but certainly does not get to the core of what it means to be a woman after you become a mom. Mojomom addresses the subject head-on with true empathy and in a beautifully written, enjoyable style. Becoming a mom, for many of us, is a bit isolating even as it is joyful. The traditional antidotes to that isolation, such as mothers' groups, with their heavy focus on children, don't do much to counter that isolation. The most beneficial aspect of Mojomom is that as you read it, you begin to feel validated and part of a community of mothers who believe that one of the best gifts you can give your children is keeping a bit of yourself intact.

Tiemann is truly gifted in the art of poignant messaging. As a new mother of a 3 1/2 month old girl, this book could not have come at a better time in my life. I have read parenting books, magazines, and websites galore but none came close to the effect this book had on me. Tiemann takes on the intense amount of change most career-oriented women face when we feel a chunk of the life we were used to slipping away and gives us practical advice on embracing it. Thankfully, she reminded me that I am allowed to hold onto myself without questioning any of the profound love I have for my daughter. She seemed to know exactly what it was that I wished someone would tell me and laid it out in one easy, fun read.

Being a parent is the most important and rewarding journey of my life, and now I feel that I have one more tool in my toolbelt to ensure that I am the best parent I can be. I recommend that all moms read this book. I plan on giving it to several I know.

Whether you plan on staying at home or continuing on with your career, this is a great book for professional women considering the transition to mommy-hood. Between Austin Powers and the Princess of the Disks, Dr. Tiemann gives us real, practical suggestions on how to keep or find our Mojo intact through motherhood. I especially liked the tips for Dads and recommend that future and current Mojo Moms have their partners read that chapter. A perfect gift for expecting moms!

Mojo Mom is a thoughtfully written and very helpful book, full of stimulating ideas. Most importantly, it offers validation throughout, a key ingredient to happiness in motherhood. I highly recommend it!

Mojo Mom is a well-researched, healthy book for moms that presents refreshing and realistic insights - particulary in comparison to other more "humorous" books I received during my pregnancies that I did not enjoy reading - that gave me inspiration as a new mom to evolve in this role through the support of other mom friends. I followed the recommendations and baby steps that the author recommends and found I have my mojo back! This is a book I love to buy for mom friends, and I think it is a great choice for a Mother's Day gift!

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Amy Tiemann's Mojo Mom. It confirmed to me that I am a Mojo Mom! I raised my kids and have entered my fourth career!!! I recommend this as excellent reading for the new mom, so she continues to be herself as well as take on all the new roles she will face. Thank you Amy, for providing new and "old" moms with a wonderful book of promise!

In my practice I work with children but I keep a few books in the waiting room for how moms can care for themselves. My two recent additions, both of which I highly recommend to the moms who feel their world has been turned upside down, are this book Mojo Mom and one specifically for stay at home moms called The Stay-at-Home Survival Guide: Field-Tested Strategies for Staying Smart, Sane, and Connected While Caring for Your Kids. Mothers can be so focused on caring for their children that they neglect themselves, which is bad for them and their mothering experience.