A SV Moms Group Book Club: Just Let Me Lie Down by Kristin van Ogtrop, editor of REAL SIMPLE

04/30/2010

A SV Moms Group Book Club: Just Let Me Lie Down by Kristin van Ogtrop, editor of REAL SIMPLE

While many of us moms don't want to engage in the debate about whether to be a working mom or a stay-at-home mom...or somewhere in between, it is a topic we often talk about. Do you miss out on things in your children's lives if you decide to be a working mom? Are working moms more crazy and stressed? Oh, it depends on your perspective, of course. Join us today as we discuss the book Just Let Me Lie Down: Necessary Terms for the Half-Insane Working Mom by Kristin van Ogtrop, editor of REAL SIMPLE magazine.

In addition to the posts below, SV Moms Group bloggers have had the pleasure of spending a bit of time with Kristin van Ogtrop during her book tour. Some of us caught up with her in Chicago, when we were there for our Chicago Moms Blog brand/blogger event and when Kristin was there for REAL SIMPLE's 10th anniversary party. Then a few of the Silicon Valley Moms Blog bloggers were invited to join Kristin van Ogtrop for lunch in Palo Alto, California last week. A leisurely lunch in the California sunshine was certainly not any of our usual happenings and we thoroughly enjoyed it...although we then all had to rush off to the next appointment, to school pickup, to conference calls, to blog about socks with large holes in them strewn all over our houses. To top it off, Kristin joined the entire network of SV Moms Group bloggers on a conference call to talk about her book, whether 21st century mothers live in a state of ambivalence and/or guilt, how to be happy with your choice, the fact that many of us are lucky to HAVE choices...oh, the conversation could have gone on and on. But, of course, it was time to hang up and get back to the chaos.

Here are what the SV Moms Group contributors have to say today, all inspired by the book Just Let Me Lie Down:

Anna Grace from Chicago Moms Blog leads us off, defining balance: that ubiquitous and frustratingly vague state of equilibrium, when all the parts of your life are working in perfect harmony
Emily from West of the Loop asks: Is ambivalence the default state of mind for a twenty-first century mother?
Melissa from Life with Sophia examines the definition of "benign neglect"
Lisa from Grandma's Briefs enunciates the love
Jennifer from Ramblings of a Semi-Conscious Mastermind Mommy asks to work or not to work?
Zoeyjane from Mommy is Moody waxes poetic on little boxes made of ticky tacky
Cristie from The Traveling Circus has green, green grass
Jennifer from Connect with your Teens through Pop Culture and Technology educates us about popular sayings moms use and what they mean
Melanie from tales from the crib reminds us that if mama aint happy, aint nobody happy
Rebecca from Life With Boys has a favorite line from this book: "Pie Chart of You"
Joan from Just The Right Things read a whole book!
Garima from Mommy In Making is thinking of simple things
Evonne from Arlington Mama determines that magical thinking is not just for preschoolers
Kristine from Mommy Needs Therapy or a Bottle of Wine asks whether the mother of a special needs child should have a career
Lisa H. from Hannemaniacs calls their bluff, among other things
Eunice from Random Walk Down Mommy Street lists the top ten reasons she is a bad mom
Sue from Laundry for Six thinks this is the best title ever
Grace Duffy from Formerly Gracie confesses that it's not that she doesn't love her kids, but...
Meghan Harvey from Meg's Idle Chatter discusses love and laughter
Stacy from Laptop TV Mom has "corporate seepage" in her house
Linsey from Me Too You has a guilt factor