The Happiest Mom (Parenting Magazine): 10 Secrets to Enjoying Motherhood [Paperback]

Meagan Francis (Author), Parenting Magazine (Editor)

Book Description

Release date: March 15, 2011

In The Happiest Mom, author Meagan Francis shows us that motherhood is not an obstacle to joy. Drawing on recent happiness research, conversations with hundreds of other moms, and her own experience as a mother of five, Francis shares her ten secrets to happy motherhood in this down-to-earth, funny, and accessible book.

Praise for The Happiest Mom:

"This book takes the revolutionary approach that you can be a good parent while actually enjoying yourself."--Ada Calhoun, author of Instinctive Parenting

"The Happiest Mom is packed with the sort of advice you need when you are about to lose it. Every mom needs this book."--Jenna McCarthy, author of The Parent Trap

"I found myself underlining passages and laughing out loud in recognition. This thoughtful, hilarious look at motherhood is a terrific resource for anyone who wants to be the happiest mother she can be."--Gretchen Rubin, author of The New York Times bestseller The Happiness Project

"Reading this book is like chatting with your girlfriend and getting all the support, advice, and laughs you need."--Brett Paesal, author of Mommies Who Drink

"The Happiest Mom is stuffed with tips that made us feel relieved rather than burdened."--Heather Flett and Whitney Moss, coauthors of The Rookie Mom's Handbook

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Q&A with Meagan Francis

In The Happiest Mom, you share 10 secrets to enjoying motherhood. What do you think is the most important secret?

We decided to open the book with this secret: Take The Easy Way Out. Of course, good parenting requires a lot of effort--but you won't score extra points for difficulty, so there's no point making motherhood harder than it has to be. That doesn't mean you do everything by halves or don't bother trying, it means setting up your life so that you're putting effort into the things that really matter to you. Also, the tips we give throughout the rest of the book will actually help your life as a mom feel easier. For example, if you have a good support network in place, motherhood will feel easier. If you learn systems that help you stay reasonably organized and on top of your kids' homework and calendar, motherhood will feel easier. If you focus on the things that matter to you - and not necessarily the ones that matter to other people - motherhood will feel easier. If being a mom seems hard all the time, The Happiest Mom will definitely help you zero in on the areas you could take the easier way out. The end result is that you'll be happier, and so will your kids.

From the Author

Q&A with Meagan Francis

A lot of mom-oriented books focus on the struggles and frustrations of motherhood. Why did you take a different angle in this book?

When I became a mom over 13 years ago, books about parenting seemed mostly preachy or unrealistically soft-focused. I can still remember how ground-breaking the "Girlfriend's Guide" books were in the 1990's! It was the first time many new moms could remember reading anything that gave the straight dirt about what motherhood could do to your body, bank account, you name it.

The 2000's ushered in a slew of "keeping it real" books and blogs about motherhood that shone a light on the darker side. That was great, but the pendulum swung so far in that direction that it started to seem like motherhood is nothing but 24-7 misery, and worse, that there's nothing you can do about it but hang on, pour a drink, and wait for high-school graduation. It became almost uncool to admit to being a happy mom, or to share positive stories about motherhood. People thought you were either lying, or worse, bragging.

But I wanted to tell the other side of the story. Yes, motherhood is tough at times, but moms can be happy. What's more, there are small, simple things we can do every day to make our lives a little easier, a lot better, and way more satisfying. I wanted moms to know that yes, you can use the words "happy" and "mother" in the same sentence! And I knew that as a mom of five who was once pretty unhappy but who has gotten happier through the years, I had a lot of advice to share.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Weldon Owen; Original edition (March 15, 2011)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1616280603
• ISBN-13: 978-1616280604
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 6.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #214,834 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I'm Meagan Francis, a mother of five and a blogger, writer and expert on being a happier, more productive mom. I'm the author of four books, including two upcoming titles: The Happiest Mom: 10 Secrets To Enjoying Motherhood (in conjunction with Parenting magazine, to be released in April 2011) and One Year To An Organized Life With Baby (co-authored with NYT Bestselling author Regina Leeds. Find me at my blog: www.TheHappiestMom.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars a book-length version of Parenting magazine rather than a book-length version of Francis's blog July 21, 2011

By Amy Kannel

Format:Paperback

Meagan Francis has been blogging at The Happiest Mom since 2009, but I only discovered her a few months ago. I'm not quick to add to my already-overflowing feed reader, but the first post I read intrigued me enough to keep poking around. A quick trip through her "Favorite Posts" had me hitting not only "subscribe" but "print."

Her writing is honest, relatable, funny, give-it-to-you straight. And her blog fills a needed niche: it's not the "motherhood is so hard, let's all commiserate together" mommy blog, and not the "motherhood is the greatest delight of my life, let's go do a 47-step craft with our angelic, gifted children in our meticulously organized house" mommy blog. Instead it's this delightfully challenging yet empowering middle ground: a mommy blog that says, "yes, it's hard sometimes, but you have choices about how you feel and what you do, so do what it takes to be a happy mom!"

So when I saw that Meagan Francis had a book coming out, I wanted to read it. Obviously, I was hoping for a book-length version of her blog.

Instead, I got a book-length version of Parenting magazine.

I don't like Parenting magazine.

First the positives. The book is gorgeous. Colorful, well-designed--just really nice to look at. When I requested a copy, I suggested that I'd be happy with an e-version for my Kindle, but the author said I'd want a print copy because of how beautiful it is, and she was right. If you have any kind of appreciation for print design, you'll be impressed with The Happiest Mom: 10 Secrets to Enjoying Motherhood. And there were a couple of places I marked that Francis offered some helpful insights, like "questions to ask yourself to regain perspective," that sort of thing.

But I'm afraid it speaks volumes when the first and most positive thing I want to say about a book refers to its design. I don't read books for design; I read them for content. And the content here is disappointing. The book is stuffed full of trendy pop-culture references that make it feel dated, rather than full of timeless wisdom. It reads like a collection of magazine articles--complete with obnoxious quizzes ("Are you 'Tidy Tracy' or 'Hot Mess Heather'?" I mean, seriously?) and largely pointless sidebar quotes from "real-life moms!" It's trying too hard to be your best pal, all hip and funny and full of common sense advice. In other words, it seems like something Parenting dreamed up and contracted Francis to write in a magazine-article-writer voice. Which she's really good at...but it just isn't what I was expecting or hoping for. Frankly, all I could think as I read was, "Meagan Francis is better than this."

So...yeah. I really, really hate to give a negative review of a book when the author so graciously sent me a complimentary copy. But there you have it. If you want to read winsome, funny, practical advice about enjoying motherhood, save your money and subscribe to TheHappiestMom.com.

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars I SOOO needed to read this book April 21, 2011

By Kathryn G. Sutherland

Format:Paperback

My mom sent me this book because she thought I needed to read it. As a single mom who works full time, goes to college and has 4 kids, 3 w/ special needs, guilt tends to be a constant companion. There is always something that I could do better, sooner, or more often for my family. Sometimes, I get up in the morning just wanting to survive that day, and really, this is no way to live. I put this book in the bathroom (because it's one of the few places I know I will have a minute or two to read)! and right away this book struck my heart. There is so much joy and love that I miss out on because I try too hard to be a perfect mom, and I forget that the biggest gift I can give my kids is to be a normal human being and a happy mom. Since I started reading this book, I've tried really hard to focus on letting go of the guilt, taking the easy way out if it's not important, and doing something nice for myself every day (even something as little as taking a few minutes to read the comics in the morning). It turns out my mom was right--I did need an attitude adjustment! Now I try to wake up in the morning and think of how much I love my kids and remember that I owe it to them and myself to have a happy day!

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth having to forgo the Kindle option! April 2, 2011

By L. Chibe

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

The Happiest Mom has been a go-to blog for me for around a year now. I really enjoy the perspective Meagan gives for various parenting situations, and with my 3 kids under age 5 it helped immensely to know that she is in the trenches herself. She has 5 kids of her own, she's not a parent of a single six-month-old trying to advise me to just be a bit more organized!

This book was more than just an expansion of her blog. It had cute quizzes (reminded me a bit of reading a Seventeen magazine as a teenager, so it was a fun throwback!), really specific and helpful suggestions, and straight talk about what you need to do to go out and GET your own happiness instead of expecting other people to fulfill that need for you. The best part, though, is that the things you need to do are easy, small, and doable - even with a bunch of kids running around.

A couple of very minor negatives - first, I am not a huge fan of Parenting Magazine because whenever I read it they seem to be a bit fearmongering. This book is not like that at all, but I won't be using the included free subscription. The book is worth it without that, though.

Second, I was really looking forward to reading this book and was waiting for it to appear in Kindle format, but when I tweeted the (very responsive and helpful) author to ask if/when it would be on Kindle, she said that she understands the Kindle love but the format of the book lends itself much more to hard copy. Now that I've read it, I can see why. It is set up in a pleasant, pretty, mood-improving format, and this way I'll be able to lend it more easily to friends who seem to want to add some happiness to their parenting. It is also small for the amount of content and light, so I'm unlikely to accidentally drop it on a nursing baby's head (which is one of my main reason for preferring kindle books in the first place!).

Overall I'm very pleased with this book and I think it will be one of my go-to gifts for friends who become parents.

Edited to add: It turns out that it will be available in Kindle form! The author got back to me and let me know she didn't have the right info. I still maintain I like having it in hard copy to be able to lend, though! Win-win!