Reviews for Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry

The average rating for Mitten Strings for God: Reflections for Mothers in a Hurry based on 2 reviews is 2 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2009-09-05 00:00:00 Alfonse Kelz This was a quick read for moms. (Don't let the title deter you - what the crap? Who names a book using the words "mitten strings???") My aunt recommended it when she saw I had read "I Am a Mother." This one was more of a reprimand to moms who don't spend enough time and energy being moms. But in a good way. It just makes you realize how much value there is in just being present in your kids' lives. This book was a little more of a how-to book than "I Am a Mother" was. Parts of it were a little weird - this author is a bit...extreme? I'm not sure that is the right word, the term tree-hugger also comes to mind. I can't put my finger on it, but parts of her personality were a little different to me, and therefore some of her thoughts were...interesting. But all in all, it was a good read and I found myself taking notes (since I had gotten it from the library and couldn't highlight). I actually read it while the kids were taking naps every day at Disneyland, so I just jotted down some things that I liked that she said. I typed them up today, so here are a few of my favorite excerpts: Page 13: “We provide our children with so much that the extraordinary isn’t special anymore…we do too much and savor too little. We mistake activity for happiness, and so we stuff our children’s days with activities, and their heads with information, when we ought to be feeding their souls instead.” Page 24 - “When I come to a stop myself, when I draw a circle of stillness around me, my children are drawn into that peaceful place. They visibly relax, as if my very calmness nourishes them. The impact of just a few minutes of quiet attention can be profound, changing the mood of an entire day, restoring equilibrium to a distressed child, and to a frazzled mother as well.” Page 25 - “These are the moments when my children reveal themselves to me, when conversation spirals up and out…My children know then that they have my full attention and, even more important, that there’s no other place I’d rather be.”(I added bold - I learned a lot from that statement - I think my kids know that my mind is somewhere else, even when I am "spending time" with them). Page 82 - “Alone with our children, one on one, we have a chance to see and hear and accept them as they really are, right now, in this moment. We see them not in relation to their siblings, friends, or peers, or as a piece of the larger family puzzle – but as unique individuals, each with a particular destiny to fulfill on this earth…I see not only who they are, but who they are becoming.” 212 - “Those of us who were groomed for success have learned, from hard-won experience, that living life to the fullest does not always mean having and doing as much as possible.” 213 - "...we can remind ourselves that we do not need to judge our daily lives by how much we accomplish. There is real value in simply being present for our children.” Those were my faves. :)

Review # 2 was written on 2009-10-04 00:00:00 Valroy Corbin I must say that I really didn't like this book. I felt it was VERY self righteous and incredibley unrealistic. She acts like she prances after her children, playing a flute and showering them with flowers. She never mentions the fact that she works so they are likely in daycare, never mentions the laundry or the million other things to get done. She talks about all their activities and then says you shouldn't have them in too many activities. I felt it was hypocritical by omission. In our family this book is called, "the eye rolling book." I read parts to my husband and he hated it, too. I just hated the writing. The ideas were all good, but the way she delivered them was incredibley annoying to me. THAT BEING SAID, everyone else in my book club either liked it or LOVED it and many people bought copies, even multiple copies, and claimed it to be their new Bible. So, it may be my attitude. Anyway, you should probably give it a try since I was the only one that hated it and everyone else is rushing to Borders to buy the sequel.