The Single Mom's Guide to Finding Joy in the Chaos [Paperback]

Elsa Kok Colopy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2006

Raising preschoolers can be exasperating, not to mention exhausting. And single parents have it tougher still. Elsa Kok Colopy has been there. She knows the struggle well. In A Single Mom's Guide to Finding Joy in the Chaos, Elsa comes alongside readers as a trusted friend to help them handle twenty crucial parenting issues. Writing with warmth and vulnerability, Elsa addresses everything from nutrition to discipline, including how readers can - build their child's self-esteem and sense of belonging - get creative about budgeting and paying off debt - use sibling rivalry to teach problem-solving skills With short, easy-to-read chapters, this book makes it easy for moms to find the encouragement they need, the moment they need it. A Single Mom's Guide to Finding Joy in the Chaos is full of powerful inspiration and hope for moms raising kids on their own.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Catalog excerpt: I can almost picture you. You have a touch of peanut butter in your hair, a smudge of grease on your cheek, and more than one broken fingernail. You're tired and probably hungry. And the last time you did something for yourself was when you bought this book-eight months ago. Oh friend, I understand! I was a single mother for 12 years. My daughter is 13 years old, and I'm just now getting the peanut butter out of my own hair. It's been an incredible run, and I know that I still have some of the best years ahead of me. I can tell you this: my daughter did survive. She not only survived, she seemed to laugh pretty regularly, to create with abandon, and to learn most of the English language. As a mom, sometimes I did things well. Sometimes I fell flat on my face. I made good decisions and bad ones. And I learned. This book deals with many of the things I encountered as a single parent. But first, before you even begin, I have something to tell you. You are amazing! You are a hero! And you have my utmost respect.

From the Back Cover

Raising a preschooler can be exhausting-but it's also full of joy! Elsa Kok Colopy, a single mom for twelve years, knows what a struggle it is to raise young children alone. But she also knows that it's full of tender moments, happy tears, and downright crazy fun! In The Single Mom's Guide to Finding Joy in the Chaos, she addresses a host of everyday issues-from nutrition to discipline and more-including how you can -build your preschooler's self-esteem and sense of belonging -get creative about budgeting and paying off debt -use sibling rivalry to teach problem-solving skills -help your child cope when Dad is absent With brief, practical chapters that each discuss a single topic, you can find the advice you need, the moment you need it. Because we know you don't have time to sit down, relax, and read a whole book at once! There is great joy to be found in the chaos of raising a family as a single mom. Elsa Kok Colopy can help you find it.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Revell (May 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0800730666
• ISBN-13: 978-0800730666
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,832,073 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Sinlge Mom's Friend, November 3, 2009

By 

ORVILLE HUNTER - See all my reviews

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This review is from: The Single Mom's Guide to Finding Joy in the Chaos (Paperback)

This book is a unique combination of wit, wisdom and encouragement to all single parents out there. Gives concrete ideas of ways to make life better as you do a job that sometimes feels very lonely, with a few laughs along the way.

5.0 out of 5 stars Single Mom Relating, June 20, 2009

By 

DW (United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Single Mom's Guide to Finding Joy in the Chaos (Paperback)

Elsa was a single mom for quite awhile raising her daughter. She is also part of the Divorce Care videos that I just finished, which is a 13-week divorce healing and recovery course. I just love how she speaks, with such compassion, softness, and care. Her book is no exception. Right off the bat, I felt connected to her.

One of the things she talked about was her friendships with women. There was a point in her life she did not feel that she needed female friends, as most her friends were men. Starting in 2005, when I went to my first Women's Retreat, I had felt that way. Most of the time, I did not connect with other women unless they were engineers, technical, or business people. Forget it if you were the stay at home mom, liked all this girlie stuff, you were all a mystery to me.

Yet, I found as I became a mother in 2000, and as I allowed God to change me starting 2005, that I found good friendships with women who were very different than me. But, it wasn't until recently as I identified (with a lot of help from the Holy Spirit, counseling, etc) the root cause of my rebellion, and really took a friend's suggestion to deepen my friendships with women, that I began to find power and joy in this.

I'm truly beginning to really enjoy turning to my women friends for support rather than my male friends, as there is a bonding with another woman friend that I cannot get with a man. How I've listened to the lies of Satan over the years and lost out on so much. I'm finding that some of the women I'm connecting with are super girlie, but in the end, we all want to be loved, to be accepted, to be protected, to be cherished.

Not totally there yet, but I've found that I've not really had the chance to really be all the woman God created me to be. I actually do love feeling pretty and to be found attractive. I hope that I can help Hannalee be her very best, which is both feminine, strong, capable, intelligent, industrious. There's more.

I don't think this was a book on how to be a woman and to connect to other women, but that's where I am so far, also not very far into the book. I'm looking forward to the rest of the book and will continue this review as I read.

4 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Singlemotherhood is Joyful!, August 5, 2006

By 

Leah Klungness "co-author The Complete Single... (Locust Valley, New York) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Single Mom's Guide to Finding Joy in the Chaos (Paperback)

Single moms of preschoolers will find handy hints for managing the every day challenges of raising a toddler. Budget help and ways to make a dollar stretch are always welcome. And, of course, former partners can often be less helpful and far more aggravating than a slightly frazzled single mom imagined. To cope with all the challenges of single motherhood, no matter what the age of your child, check out The Complete Single Mother, recently published in a completely revised third edition.