The days are getting shorter and cooler – what better way to relax than to snuggle up on the sofa with the latest offerings from The Baby Project book club…
Happy Mama by Amy Taylor-Kabbaz (Affirm Press, $13.95)
Repeat after me: happy mum, happy family. We know it makes sense, but is the idea of a content, fulfilled mother an impossible dream given that so much of your waking day is spent caring for your baby? And who are you now anyway?
Journalist and life coach Amy Taylor-Kabbaz knows just how it feels to struggle with the desire to be a great mother and a happy and fulfilled women. Then she discovered something that changed everything: that putting herself first was better not only for her, but for her kids too.
Happy Mama is the collected wisdom learned from her transition from strung-out parent to happy, self-loving mum, and is full of practical advice that will help you change the way you approach motherhood – and life.
Things my Mother Taught Me by Claire Halliday (Echo Publishing, $23.25)
If you were to make a list of things your mother taught you, chances are you would run out of paper before you reached primary school. Our mothers play a profound role in creating who we are today – and how we ourselves are as mothers.
Things My Mother Taught Me features stories of high profile mothers, and high profile people – from young actors, television personalities and older intellectuals to a famous chef, a fashion designer, a comedian, and many more – reflecting on their own relationship with their mothers.
They are not all happy stories, but they are all beautifully and honestly retold.
How to Make A Home by Edward Hollis (Pan Macmillan, $19.99)
If you are one of an increasing number of mums working from home, you will know what it’s like to when the lines between work and home life become blurred.
More than any time in history, we need to actually re-imagine what ‘home’ is, and what we want it to be – and that’s what How to Make a Home challenges us to do.
As modern technology brings the realm of the public into what used to be a personal and private space Ed Hollis looks at what it means to make a home in today’s world.
Primary School Confidential by Mrs Wong (Allen & Unwin, $29.99)
One of the first thing you discover when you drop your child off for their first day of Prep is: it’s a jungle out there. There’s bullying, popularity contests, rejection and manipulation – and that’s just the parents’ club.
Popular columnist and blogger Mrs Woog lifts the lid on primary school, that special place where little kids turn into big kids, where letters turn into words, numbers turn into more confusing numbers and lunchboxes turn into bacterial breeding grounds. Where teachers rule (mostly) and parents realise primary school’s not just for children – that they’re back at school too, just in different roles.
