Stay-at-Home Handbook: Advice for Parenting, Finances, Career, Surviving Each Day & Much More [Paperback]

Cheryl Gochnauer (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 15, 2002

Is your "home number" your "work number" too? If you are a stay-at-home parent, you know the workday never really ends. And every day brings both all-too-familiar challenges and unexpected joys. How do you keep it together--physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually? Cheryl Gochnauer's previous book, So You Want to Be a Stay-at-Home Mom, helped parents consider what staying home requires and whether that choice was the best for them and their families. In this new guidebook Gochnauer tackles common--but often difficult--questions and challenges that beset stay-at-home parents:

• retaining an individual identity
• feeling appreciated
• viewing childrearing as a valid career choice
• spending wisely
• resisting guilt
• evaluating work-at-home opportunities
• handling sibling rivalry
• volunteering at your child's school
• succeeding as a stay-at-home dad
• avoiding the TV
• getting help with chores
• setting a godly example
• nurturing your spiritual growth

Forty-two brief chapters cover a variety of topics and can each be read in about ten minutes. Gochnauer also includes an appendix on networking opportunities for stay-at-home parents and a helpful listing of ministries and organizations that offer parenting resources, services and conferences (all accessible on the Internet). If you are a mom or dad at home part-time or full-time, you'll find immense encouragement--plus practical advice from one who has been there (and still is!)--in Stay-at-Home Handbook.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Being a stay-at-home mom at times can be rewarding, frustrating, fulfilling, lonely and simply wonderful! Gochnauer understands its blessing and challenges firsthand, so her strategies to help other mothers succeed in this parenting path are practical, savvy and sound. If you and your family are contemplating making this move, you'll appreciate the balanced, insightful advice and handy resources Stay-at-Home Handbook provides." (Jane Johnson Struck, editor, Today's Christian Woman )

"Cheryl Gochnauer understands the needs of the stay-at-home mom. In this handbook you'll find the practical tips, strategies and encouragement needed to make stay-at-home mothering all it can be! It is a must for any woman committed to the profession of motherhood!" (Jill Savage, author, Professionalizing Motherhood, founder of Hearts at Home )

"Cheryl's expertise in maneuvering the obstacles of stay-at-home motherhood fills each page of this book. It is a must-read for any stay-at-home mom!" (Jonni McCoy, author of Miserly Moms )

"Down-to-earth, user-friendly, often humorous advice to stay-at-home moms . . . plus easy-to-follow instructions for joining the ranks. Stay-at-Home Handbook is rich with motivation, inspiration and practical how-to advice. At a time when so many families are falling apart, this affirming guide has become a welcome addition to my library and deserves a home on the nightstand of every mother who has found, or hopes to find, staying home to be as valid a career choice as any other." (Mary Hunt, author of Debt-Proof Living and The Financially Confident Woman )

"I'll take homemade over store bought any day, and that includes the family as well. Cheryl gives us the tools and encouragement needed to stay focused on that which is most important: our family, our faith in Christ and the vision God has placed in our hearts for a strong family. This is a must-read for any person committed to staying home." (Dr. Randy Carlson, president and host, Parent Talk OnCall )

Product Details

• Paperback: 204 pages
• Publisher: IVP Books (February 15, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0830823360
• ISBN-13: 978-0830823369
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,679,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars No SAHM should be without this book!, March 21, 2002

By 

E. M. Cronan (Hudson, OH USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stay-at-Home Handbook: Advice for Parenting, Finances, Career, Surviving Each Day & Much More (Paperback)

Cheryl Gochnauer does it again. Her insight into the life of a stay-at-home mom shines through this book in so many ways. There isn't a facet she doesn't touch on, whether it's finances, helping other moms who are struggling (being their Godsend), keeping your sanity through those long days, school cancellations woes, and overcoming the need to "do it all."

There's a foreword by Dr. Laura Schlessinger that sheds a VERY interesting light on a stay-at-home vs. working-outside-the-home lifestyle.

This book should be on the bookshelf of every parent....

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Resource, November 25, 2002

By 

Christin Ditchfield - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stay-at-Home Handbook: Advice for Parenting, Finances, Career, Surviving Each Day & Much More (Paperback)

Cheryl's book is a terrific resource for all stay-at-home parents. The book contains 42 short, power-packed chapters --each one a perfect blend of inspiration and information. Cheryl presents practical tips and suggestions on a wide range of topics, everything from homeschooling to housework to finances to home-based businesses. She shares many anecdotes and stories, drawing from her own experience, as well as the insights of dozens of other stay-at-home moms. Cheryl's approach is real and down to earth. She writes warmth and humor. In making recommendations, she never loses sight of the fact that one size does NOT fit all. She presents her readers with a number of different perspectives and approaches to each issue. The appendix lists more than 20 organizations and online sites that offer support and assistance to stay-at-home parents, including Gochnauer's own website: www.homebodies.org.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars not just for mom's and dad's!, March 10, 2007

By 

Lacey B "Lacey B" (Pasco, WA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stay-at-Home Handbook: Advice for Parenting, Finances, Career, Surviving Each Day & Much More (Paperback)

Wether you are a stay at home aunt, uncle, grandma, grandpa - this book is great! This book gives a great insight on not only how to handle your life, but handle your kids and a life at the same time. The author really points out how being a stay at home "anything" really isn't that bad. I like the author's viewpoints and insight to make life easier for thoose of us who choose not to work, but to be there for our families full-time.

I hope to use a lot of the author's helpful advice even when I have kids of my own.

I take care of a lot of children and the advice and information that I have learned in this book has been a blessing.