Today I have something to share with you that I know you are going to love.
Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood
But I'm getting ahead of myself.
My first interaction with Jamie happened last spring when Tsh (Simple Mom) shared a link to Jamie's post called organization: intentional cleaning on her blog Steady Days. Immediately, I felt so much appreciation for Jamie because her approach to balancing housework and parenting very closely resembled my own approach. I had just never sat down and thought about it, let alone written it out and put it in chart form.
In the past few months, I have gotten to know Jamie through emails, blogging, and another exciting project that is still (for a few more weeks!) under wraps. She is so friendly, authentic, helpful, and fun. I can say with all honesty she is one of those people who just blesses you in friendship. When she asked me to receive a review copy of Steady Days, I jumped at the chance. Based on her writing at Steady Mom, I knew the book was going to be good. I just didn't expect it to be totally and completely crammed full of such good stuff!
When it comes to mothering, Jamie knows of what she speaks. She and her husband added three children to their family in less than three years. Her experience in this area gave birth to a passion for providing leadership, guidance, and a friendly hand to hold for mothers everywhere. Parenthood can be so overwhelming and consuming - it's easy to lose sight of what is truly important. Throughout Steady Days, there is encouragement to make it all much more manageable.
Jamie knows that most busy mamas don't have time to sit down and read some big tome on effective parenting. Steady Days is divided into four main categories - Getting Organized, Retaining Enthusiasm, Learning Together, and Making Memories. Within each category are concise chapters full of both inspiration and practical application. Throughout the book, readers also find pictures and illustrations which make for a nice concrete example for those who are visual learners.
Each section of this book provides gentle guidance to encourage you to grow into the mother you want to be. Jamie encourages you to be realistic about the season of life you are in - to not get hung up on being perfect, but rather to examine who you are as a person, working with your personal strengths and incorporating new habits and philosophies to balance out the areas where you have room to grow.
Every aspect of Steady Days focuses in on intentional living - from the Steady Home Planner she will guide you to creating to the Look At Me! binders she encourages you to make to capture the moments in time you have with your children - but, again, intentional living is not discussed in some kind of lofty, purely philosophical way that leaves you feeling discouraged. She teaches readers how intentional parenting can become completely natural and second nature.
Jamie educates her children at home and offers inspiration focused on children's learning, but in no way would her ideas be limited to homeschooling families. In fact, she has these words to say about the education of our children:
Good teachers are invaluable, good resources vital, good facilities wonderful. But without a parent who cares about learning alongside his or her child, these advantages can can take a child only so far.
I found this section especially meaningful. As a parent who is called to public schools, I appreciate the support and information on how to incorporate learning into every aspect of family life.
Goodness, y'all. I could go on and on and on here. I feel like I don't have the words to tell you emphatically enough how very much I am enjoying this book! It came along at just the right time for me. For a little more information on Steady Days, I would encourage you to check out the Steady Days website, and you can learn more about Jamie and her family at Steady Mom.
One more thing about Jamie is that she is so very generous. She has provided one signed copy of Steady Days: A Journey Toward Intentional, Professional Motherhood
1) To enter to win this signed copy, please leave a comment below and share one area of your life in which you would like to experience growth this year! (I want this giveaway to be open to pre-mamas, too. In fact, this book would make an exceptional gift for someone who has not yet begun her parenting journey!)
2) You can earn an additional entry by mentioning this giveaway on Twitter. Make sure to leave a separate comment for this.
3) You can earn an additional entry by posting this review and giveaway on your Facebook profile. Make sure to leave a separate comment for this.
I'll draw a winner on Saturday morning at 10 AM CST!
(please note all Amazon links in this post are my Amazon Affiliate links which means that if you purchase Steady Days by clicking on one of these links, you will be supporting SortaCrunchy!)
