MOMumental by Jennifer Grant {Book Review}

   This Spring I received the book "MOMumental - Adventures in the Messy Art of Raising a Family" by Jennifer Grant. This book was easy reading and entertaining. I found myself laughing out loud quite a few times. Jennifer has an interesting writing style and an interesting story. Growing up in a broken home she desperately wanted to have a family and be a wonderful wife and mother but wondered if that could ever happen since she hadn't seen that in her own growing up years.

  Through the book she talks about growing from the idea that she needed to do everything perfectly in parenthood to realizing that God can use us even in our imperfectness. The book talks a lot about relaxing and not worrying. If you are stressed about the role of motherhood and are afraid that you might be doing everything wrong - this might be the book for you.

  One of the things that she talks about that I have worked toward but want to work on some more is saying "yes" more often. Sometimes it seems like we just get used to saying "no" to our children. Oftentimes it isn't that difficult to say yes (like yes you may camp outside tonight, yes we can cook supper over the fire in the back yard, yes you can have your naptime on the couch instead of your bed, etc.) and we can enjoy some fun times together.

About the Author

Jennifer Grant is mother to four children and author of Love You More: The Divine
Surprise of Adopting My Daughter (2011). For more than a decade she wrote for papers in
the Sun-Times newsgroup. Currently she freelances for the Chicago Tribune and is a
regular contributor to hermeneutics, Christianity Today magazine's blog for women. Grant
is a Wheaton College graduate who received her master's in English and Creative Writing
from Southern Methodist University. She lives outside of Chicago, IL.