Customer Reviews

The Single Mother's Survival Guide with Other

5 star:		(45)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

Wow! I had to wipe the tears of laughter away while i read this wonderful book! We need more writers like this.I began the book as a depressed single mom and finished it laughing and feeling strong and proud. Patrice Karst has written a book unlike the other single mom books- i own them all and hers is real, honest, funny and loving. I no longer felt alone because she deals with the reality of single motherhood. She isn't afraid to laugh at herself and tackles the real issues we all deal with. I felt myself wanting to pick up the phone and call her, as if she was a best friend. The world needs more women like her to encourage and empower women and mothers in such a male dominated society. Life can be hard and she offers a hand of encouragment with a lot of humor we all need. You go patrice! Good luck! Please write a sequal!

On one of the darkest days of my single motherhood I reread this book. What a pleasure! I laughed and cried and laughed and cried. I really want all my single girlfriends out there to get a hold of this book as fast as they can. Single mothers need to share with eachother and she has lots of love and humor for us. I enjoyed all her ideas and the Workbook at end helped me to put everything in perspective.

I bought two other books at the same time and found both of them to very useful, particularly The Complete Single Mother. I also recommend Single Mothers by Choice. I found this book to be dismissable. It gives very little usable advice and trivilizes serious problems. Please read the other one star ratings before wasting your money.

This book was insightful, funny and so very true to a single mother. It made me laugh and cry, but most of all it made me realize that I am now, and will be in the future successful in raising my son. Thank you for letting me realize that it is ok to be a single Mom and that we can raise our gifts from God successfully! This book has truly changed my life.

As she invites her readers to in the back of her book, I wrote to Patrice Karst via email just to say thank you for writing the book, 'The Single Mother's Survival Guide'. It came into my hands just when I needed it most. I read the first few pages at my desk at work and started to cry a few tears of laughter and relief. Someone actually understands EXACTLY what it's like to be me! I am so glad she took the time to put these thoughts down on paper. There is nothing earth-shatteringly original in this book, but that's not the point of it. Being a single mom can be like a cold day in the rain, and this book is like a comforting mug of tea by a roaring fire with 'I Love Lucy' reruns on the TV. It's comforting, humorous, and very warm and affirming, and makes you smile and reminds you of who you REALLY are, despite how the circumstances can make you feel. I do plan to buy a copy of my own, so I can jot in it. Specific things I liked about this book, which differ from other 'single mom' books I've seen: 1) Brevity and conciseness. Other single moms will understand perfectly when I say that the bathroom is the guilt-free sanctuary of the single mom, for five to ten minute sanity breaks. I always have an uplifting and humorous book stashed in a basket in there. I love the one-or-two page spreads that give one a quick uplift when there isn't time to read a chapter or two. Sometimes that's all one has time for or needs to break a train of negative thought and turn it around, or get a quick warm feeling to replace a cold one. 2) Humor, of course. There is NO way to accomplish this feat without it. 3) Warmth. Patrice's sincerity and understanding shine through and feel like a hug from a sister/best friend. 4) Positivity. It is a real challenge to remain positive in spite of everything, much of the time. I too have learned how easy it is to get sucked into the vortex of shared misery! 5) The page called 'I have a theory...' I laughed and cried to mentally picture 'the wife' 'leading a mediocre existence, laying tile in MY palace for all eternity'....I love it!!! This is great!!! 6) 'Reasons to be happy about being a single mom'. My favorites: 'Any kind of motherhood is a gift. And, Your other option is misery'. Amen! 7) 'Ways to Nurture Yourself'. Amen again! I already do most of these things and I can guarantee their effectiveness, especially gardening, for me. I could go on and on, but my point is that she has hit the mark with this book. I've been a single mom since the age of 19, and now I'm 38. (Some days I feel 68, but other days I feel 17.) I'm proud to say my 19 year old daughter is in her second year of college and is practically running the place, and my 10 year old son is a scholar, artist, singer, AND an athlete, besides being a nutcase whom I have great fun with. We are all three very close and best friends. We single moms need to be reminded frequently of the reality that kids from single mom homes are quite often more self reliant, more mature, more compassionate, and better equipped to handle life than their two-parent home contemporaries. My daughter sees so many kids (from two parent families) around her at college that can't cope with life, while she takes it all in stride and excells. Patrice is so accurate in describing our 'decorated and electronically enhanced single-mom prisons...'Children are chains around our feet and hearts.Finally, I loved her suggestions of comebacks to use with those who ask too much of us. One of my favorites was, "No, but can I borrow some money?" Wonder if I can try that on my boss?? Thank you again for the book, Patrice, and much love to you and Eli too.

This book gives the basics of managing life as a single mom. I found it particularly useful because it wasn't geared only towrds divorsed mothers, as most books are. She addresses single moms in general. I love this book. I have it on han at all times and refernce it frequently. Buy this book, it will answer so many of your questions an give you down to earth guidance. I hav purchased a great numebr of books on single parenting and in the end this is always the one I go back to.

If you are a single mother, buy this book - if you know a single mother, buy it for her... Patricia thank you for writing this book, you gave the voice of humor, power, strength, and faith to single mothers everywhere - of all the single parenting books I have read over the past four years of my single-motherhood, this one spoke to me, and reminded me that I wasn't alone, that I can support myself and my children, that we will be OKAY - and on days that I am too exhausted to cook my girls anything but mac and cheese for dinner, I remind myself that the Single Mother's Survival Guide says its OKAY! ....I am soon not to be single mother anymore, I actually met a man who is not a drug/drinking addict, doesn't live with his mother, not a freeloader, he thinks my stretch marks are CUTE.... (see list of men to AVOID - thank you Patricia!) - most of all he is kind to me and my children.
God blesses Single Mother's and their children everywhere, it is the hardest job in the world.

This book truly is a God Send. I am a young single mother to a 5 week old baby boy. I picked up this book while at a bookstore. It is excellent! Patrice Karst mixes humor, inspiration and reality in this helpful book. It helped me to see that my situation is not my fault and that my son and I are not the ones to be blamed. I strongly recommend this book. It is one that no single mother should be without. Ms. Karst, you will be greatly rewarded by God for all you have done to help other single moms as well as raising your son to be a strong, loving young man. This book truly is the best, and I love the convienant size , small enough for me to carry in my purse so I can pull it out and re-read it when I am feeling down.

This book was a disappointment. I was expecting more than a book of lists containing many "fill-in-the-blanks" pages at the end. Even Chicken Soup for Single Parents was better than this very slim book that has practically no content.

As a woman who made a conscious decision to become a single parent, I found this book very elementary. It did not give me any solid, new information about how to get by on a day to day basis. I think it would be much more helpful for those who find themselves single parents and are not happy about it. It was nicely written and I got a kick out of a few sections. I could have gotten enough out of it by skimming through in a book store.