Customer Reviews

The Power of Mother Love: Transforming Both Mother and Child

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Awesome book! I cherished each page because it encouraged me in the decision I have made to make raising my children the focus of my life. It is a privelege and an honor to mold a precious life. No job could give such fulfillment as the job of being #1 in the life of my child. This book reaffirms our instinct that our children need us in the big and the small events in their lives. They need us to be available and attentive to their daily emotional needs. Nothing can replace a mother's love!

This is an enlightening book about how important we mothers are in our children's lives. It teaches us that we need to stand back and observe and enjoy each and every moment we have with our children, for we never know what tomorrow will bring. It helps mothers realize they can only do their best and not expect themselves to be perfect. I think it also is a great testament that, however difficult it may be to work out, mothers need to stay home with their children!

As a father of four, student of child development, a social-worker and educator I must say that I have found few books that have been written with such tenderness on the topic of (call it) mother love, attachment-bonding, and early relationships as this. I am an admirer of Mary Ainsworth & John Bowlby's work on attachment. Much of their written material is cut and dry clinical style material. Brenda Hunter brings the message home in a way that you can relate it to your personal life. Theistic or not, there is enough material inside that will make its reading enjoyable. (Bowlby and Stanley Greenspan often make mention of evolution and/or Darwinism which I care nothing for but still found their material compelling).
As a man I was reminded of the importance and need for my sensitivity toward my wife as she was pregnant, in delivery and beyond. I understood the importance of why she needed to be mothered after her pregnancy, the cause & effects of past relationships and how my support would enable her to be a sensitive parent, creating in turn (for our babies) secure attachments. She spends time toward the end of the book discussing empathy and how it's disappearance from the current generation could have profound effects on society. How can you cultivate it from birth? Brenda is a strong believer that meeting a childs NEEDS is so very important in enabling them to empathize with others. Its seems like a no brainer but damaged emotions from early relationships lead to repeated patterns toward our/their own children. Breaking the cycle is easier said than done.
When I passed this book on to my female cohorts... they all cried! That wasn't my response, but it goes to show the power of Brenda Hunters message.
This is truely a must read (and yes, even for men).

Wow. The author really shows us the incredible influence a mother's love has on the life and development of her child. With tenderness, compassion for us less-than-perfect moms, yet with conviction, she speaks to all moms in all situations about recognizing the power their love and prescence have on their children's lives. You will never again take for granted the time you spend with your children, and if you "surrender to the power of mother love" in 15 or 20 years you will look back and be ever so glad you read this book.

I received this book as a gift when my baby was two months old. The first section on Mother Love in the Mother's Life were very encouraging during the early months of motherhood. The second part of the book describes how important Mother Love is for your child. If you are thinking about staying home with your children, this book gives some amazing reasons for doing so.

What a wonderful, painful book. I could only read two or three pages at a time. Several times I cried. I think every mother and person who is important to the mother should read this book. I can't say enough good things about it.

I actually was disappointed in this book, because it has a pretty heavy emphasis on theism, and "G-d led me here".

As a non-believer, it created an automatic distance between the material presented and myself, because I couldn't identify with the author, who attributed many things about motherhood directly to her belief in G-d.

Anyways, for a person of a closer mindset to her, it might be a good fit for a book, but for me, it just left me grasping for some commonality, and not finding much. I would go as far to suggest that the book jacket really should have more of an outright mention of the spiritual bent of the book, because then a more appropriate audience could choose to read it.

Even though I don't agree with all statements of the author I do enjoy it and it helped me to love my newborn daughter.

The Power of Mother Love: Strengthening the Bond Between You and Your Child

I bought this book right after my first was born, and did not honestly see the effects of applying the nuggets of truth in this book until he started preschool and was away from me for a few hours each day. The teachers noticed that my son was so well-adjusted and sociable at preschool, that they have told me "he must be getting what he needs from home." All the countless hours I spent bonding with him; from breastfeeding, holding, rocking, mirroring, echoing, cooing back to him at infancy, to helping him crawl, stand, walk, eat table food during his toddler stage, is somehow paying dividends at this time. My testimony does not end here. My son holds delightful conversations with me about his day at preschool, about his friends, likes, dislikes, ... and I cannot stop here either. (I am not bragging like other parents that proudly place "my son is an honor student at blah-blah elementary school" on their foreheads; I'm simply supporting the book's concept about the longterm benefits of appropriate mother-child emotional bonding). I know I've done the absolute minimum I need to do, to bring up an emotionally healthy child, because I don't have to put a leash on him when we are in a public place (ie. department store, park). He comfortably stays and walks by my side and goes off on his own to play, not too far, but knows that I am close by just in case he needs me. My child knows to whom he can run to, to feel safe, secure, LOVED, when he is lost or unsure of his way. This is similar to how I perceive God, because in essence I AM a child to God. And that is why, I think, the author believes God is involved in this miraculous bonding system between mother and child, because God has experience with his own children (us) to provide the guidelines for this process. Because I've received fantastic results with my son and my daughter, I highly recommend this book to new mommies.

I read this book when my first child was 2 years old. He turned 10 this week and I have three more little ones. I picked it up and started reading it again today. I am reminded how I devoured this book and learned that raising a child is such a valid and important career. I am so thankful for the foundation this book gave me so many years ago. It is one of the most influential books I have ever read. I took to heart the words of wisdom Hunter shares. I have invested my best energies in my family these last 10 years. I can testify that the message of this book needs to be taken to heart. As mothers we are shaping future generations and changing the world!