Product Description
Author : Lisa Valentine Clark
I didn’t have gold shoes, and I didn’t have time to go shopping, but I thought I could just spray-paint some heels I owned that I never really wore. I spray-painted them and tried them out for three hours at church where they held up perfectly. I felt pretty good about myself. “Suckers who buy gold shoes when they could just spray-paint them,” I thought, congratulating myself for my frugality and my foresight for testing them out.
As moms, we improvise. We get along. We make things word. And we make a lot of things up as we go along because, let’s face it, no manual is ever going to cover all the bases a real mom needs to touch. But if laughter and perspective and a renewed energy to face the day are what you’re after—if you too are a “real mom”—this is the book for you!
If you have seen Lisa in Pretty Darn Funny you know that she is DYNAMIC!
Now Lisa shares with us her take on REAL MOMS.
I LOVE how she states in the Introduction:
"Every mom should write a book on motherhood, and every mom could. We all have those special moments when the ridiculous happens and we look around wondering, why aren't there cameras recording all of this? We all find ourselves in situations no one could prepare us for--or, if they tried, we wouldn't have believed such things could happen to us."
We as mother's tend to compare our worst weakness to another mother's strength.
Lisa suggests that we "lower the bar so all moms can be awesome."
We need to let go of perfectionism and understand that we do a lot of "improvising" as Lisa so wonderfully writes...
"I didn’t have gold shoes, and I didn’t have time to go shopping, but I thought I could just spray-paint some heels I owned that I never really wore. I spray-painted them and tried them out for three hours at church where they held up perfectly. I felt pretty good about myself...congratulating myself for my frugality and my foresight for testing them out"...and then the gold started to peel off, in big chunks, leaving big splotches of pink during her very important red-carpet premier--(see picture on cover of book :)
Lisa shares fun stories of her love of improvisation and shows that there are a lot of parallels between that and of being a mother.
Filled with humors "acting stories," and "mom stories" and "side rants" this book is PERFECT for mothers everywhere.
Stop trying to be a perfect mom and rejoice in being a REAL MOM
Let us celebrate the uniqueness!
Let us embrace the differences!
Let us encourage the sharing of triumphs...and tragedies!
The best things we can do... is to do the best that we can do...and laugh along the way!
Read the entire book or just a few chapters.
There are stories in here that you will smile at, relate to, and most of all will want to share.
I LOVE THIS BOOK!
Grab a copy for a MOM that you love, including yourself!
I've long considering motherhood to be one of the most challenging and rewording things that a woman can do. Once begun there is no going back and it's a 24/7 job. And yet it's often a job that gets heavily criticized. I know few mothers who feel completely adequate. Clark takes a look at this and shares her opinion on the matter. She shares some of her experiences as a mother along with her attitudes about motherhood and why it's okay for mother's to do things in their own way. Even though I am not a mother, I was surprised by how many things that the author discussed also apply to life in general. Especially related to the way women see themselves and how easily we fall into the trap of judging our weaknesses against others strengths. It's clear that Clark has a great sense of humor and has learned to laugh at some of the curve-balls that life throws at us. I think what I appreciated the most was her explanation that it's fine to do things in your own way to benefit the children. A book that I highly recommend, especially to those mother's who get so tired of being told they aren't doing enough. There are some great thoughts in this book (no advice though since the author doesn't give any ;)).
Lisa Valentine Clark translates the humor, realities, rants, and ups and downs of motherhood in her book in a way that we can all relate. She takes stories and situations from her own life and openly shares them with her readers. I feel like I've really gotten to know her.
She is great at sharing her observations, advice, and encouragement to just be you! And to share that all moms have hard times, come up short, wish we had nicer things, and that none of us really know what we're doing. But that's real life. And that's ok! Somehow our kids will grow up normally and have good memories of their childhood. :-) This was a fun, lighthearted, and uplifting read.
LISA VALENTINE CLARK graduated with a B.S. in English from Brigham Young University. She was part of the sketch/comedy troupe "The Garrens" in Provo from 1995 to 2000, and co-founded the theater-as-improv troupe "The Thrillionaires." She has done a variety of voiceover and acting work in independent features, including "Gracie" in the award-winning webseriesPretty Darn Funny," which she also writes and produces. Lisa spends most of her time in Provo with her husband, Christopher Clark. They are the parents of five children who seem to make up a unique comedy troupe all their own.
Deseret Book