Customer Reviews

Mom-in-Chief: How Wisdom from the Workplace Can Save Your Family from Chaos

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Jamie talks about bringing leadership, crisis/conflict-management and team-building skills from work and applying them at home. The two environments are very similar and concepts in one apply to the other. I found this book to be a beautiful mix of revelation, validation of one's thoughts and as basis to spur further thought. It presents perspectives that I can apply both at work and home. The book by virtue of its title targets working moms, but in actuality every person who is a parent and a professional has something to gain from this book.

The Mom-In-Chief's main declaration [to me] is:

"If you've ever thrown your hands up in frustration over a pesky toddler... then Mom-In-Chief is a must read!"

My toddler's middle name might as well be trouble. I have recently learned that her pesky side comes from boredom. Having this knowledge is certainly helping our relationship but prior to this knowledge things have been difficult for me and her. Though, I still feel like I need certain tools to help her and me.

Working Mother magazine is one of my favorite ones I subscribe to. I love reading about other professional mothers who thrive on business and family life. During a recent issue of Working Mother they showcased Jamie Woolf's Mom-in-Chief. I knew I had to give this self help book to try to incorporate my business skills with my home skills.

Mom-in-Chief states that it will help with things like:

How to maximize the learning opportunities that come from mistakes
How to stay connected with a pesky toddler or testy teenager
How to create rituals that strengthen the family's esprit de corps
How to feel less like a maid or short-order cook and more like a skilled leader capable of unleashing the potential of others
When to step in and when to step back
Why working with your spouse or partner is crucial to executive function and team happiness.
I found this self help book to have some great tips. I felt, though, when Woolf began breaking down the type of parent you may be, called Mom Modes that it made me zone out. After taking the online test since the book version was too long and confusing it was determined that I am a: Foster Individuality - Liberators type parent. Which means that it is important to me to foster my daughters individuality and uniqueness. It seems I care more about that than I do about emotional attachment and achievement.

The best part of the book was hearing the stories of other parents' experiences with their children. The stories explain what they did right and wrong. Also, they explain what could be done different next time. These made the biggest impact on me.

For business oriented moms who need help with running their households and raising their children the way they want them to be raised, Jamie Woolf's Mom-In-Chief might be the must read.

Mom-in-Chief, is a wonderful book written at a time of great moral and ethical uncertainty in our country. It offers great understanding and insight to working mothers raising children, using creativity, well thought- through planning and practical, sound ideas. This book is filled with wonderful anecdotes, terrific humor and wit and great empathy for moms and dads. The author also recognizes the importance of working moms to continue to pursue their own dreams and encourages moms and dads to plan special time together.
As a single parent, working mom, retired educator and currently psychotherapist, I only wish this book had been written 30 years sooner.

Mom in Chief is a great resource for anyone with kids. The chapter Managing The Growing Pains of Adolescence is practical and gives very sound advice. The book is filled with practical, clear ideas about how to make changes in order to create a more positive, calm relationship with your kids. The real life stories help illustrate each idea that Jamie Woolf is suggesting one can implement in the home. I highly recommend this wonderfully written, practical resource.

I thoroughly enjoyed Mom in Chief - it was a great reminder to keep the big picture in mind around parenting goals. I was motivated to initiate a discussion with my kids about chores, and what's working/what's not. We created a new chore list and a new system that we're going to try for the next 3 weeks and then discuss and refine. My son said this morning that he liked the new system. And I certainly liked going to take a shower instead of hanging around, nagging them to get their lunch packed, and teeth brushed.
I especially appreciated the author's willingness to own up to her own mistakes in the book. I think that's unusual in a guide-type book, where the author is always telling you what to do, and not really sharing their own shortcomings. It made me feel more motivated to take some chances myself.

Since I write about motherhood for a living, I read a ton of books on parenting, and it's always a real treat to find a new book that commands a place on your bookshelf. Mom-in-Chief definitely stakes that claim.

Jamie Woolf's book helps busy parents bring the leadership skills they learned in the workplace back home, to adapt and apply those skills to family life. I appreciate several aspects of her writing: Mom-in-Chief is a book about parents as much as it is about kids; Jamie is very supportive, non-judgmental, and goes out of her way not to pile on Mommy Guilt; and her ideas are fresh and useful. Also, Mom-in-Chief really honors the skills that parents acquire at their careers, as well as the work they do at home. In my opinion, working Moms still often get criticized when they should be supported. Jamie builds them up without tearing anyone else down.

Mom-in-Chief is aimed at Moms, but I think that many a business-minded Dad would appreciate it, too. It's a solid, well-researched leadership book, and Jamie writes in a way that could reach some men who would only reluctantly pick up a parenting book. I plan to share it with my husband. He and I have different styles and Mom-in-Chief has helpful information about how to meld our different approaches into a strong, cohesive parenting partnership.

[One final point, there are several "Mom CEO" books with similar titles. This is NOT the type of book that has a religious angle and talks about professionalizing mothers as "Chief Household Officers." I am not saying those books are bad, but they are quite dissimilar, and if you are expecting one and get the other by mistake, you will probably be dissatisfied. I mention this because some of the search results on Amazon make these books come up together.]

I found Woolf's book to be filled with easy to understand, and more importantly, easy to apply strategies to keep my household sane. Next time you want to pick up a frying pan or punch a hole in the fridge, pick this up instead. If I adhere to the strategies she outlines, I'm pretty sure my kids will turn into better, more useful adults too. Not bad for 25 bucks.

Jamie Woolf's book does a brilliant job of culling lessons from working life for use in family life, but you don't have to have a family to benefit from her advice. A fun and useful read, Mom-in-Chief provides a unique and long over-due perspective on the connections between work and family.

I have read many parenting books before which haven't helped me at all but this one is different. It is well written, includes many illustrative stories, but most importantly, offers straightforward strategies that are easy to bring into my home. One point the author made, that we as parents need to keep in mind the bigger picture, our core values, what our bigger purpose/mission is and bring these into our discussions with our kids. This simple point has already helped diffuse a potential struggle with my daughter. Buy this one--its different than all the others!

I found a lot I could relate to in Mom-in-Chief--Jamie's book made me think about my relationships, work experience, and my relationship with my parents, as well as the experiences of so many parents I know. I thought the book was very wise, and it inspired me to be more clear about what my priorities and goals are in many aspects of my life. Plus, it was just a great read.