--made me laugh? Check.
--relatable to moms in mid-life? Check.
--quick read? Check.
Only caveat I would give on this book was that the author drops the F-bomb with much frequency. Philpott is by no means professing faith and this is not the normal Christian non-fiction I typically pick up. That said, she is hilarious and hits the high points and low points of motherhood versus career with vigor. I laughed out loud so many times! She addresses a day-in-the-life so succinctly I texted my friend and said, "This book describes precisely what I was living about 10 years ago!"
The realization that you now have the babies that you always wanted but all you want to do is drive away and be by yourself is such a hard tonic to take. Oh the guilt.... And the depression that sets in when you feel stuck in your life (that life that you wanted with everything in your being) only to find out, oops, it wasn't exactly how you thought it would be. But we live and learn and grow wiser and mellower and God does His thing in refining us. (My words - not Philpott's.)
Here's a few quotes that I had to write down....
from p47: Regarding the Little Mermaid (from the actual Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, not Disney). "See, in the story, the little mermaid thinks the prince is cute, but she doesn't decide to go back out to the beach looking for him because he's so irresistible. She goes back because she wants a soul. The way I read it, she's not lovesick. She's ambitious."
from p49: Because the evil Ursula took her voice in exchange for being able to live on the surface and have a soul, the Little Mermaid could not speak and explain to her man how she really felt. She was kinda stuck. Philpott says, "Baby, you better learn to write."
from p137: Needing a little affirmation and not getting it as a stay-at-home mom, Philpott volunteers and ends up giving money to charity just to get her name on the program. "My name -- all three words of it -- no longer appeared on report cards or regular pay stubs."
from p147: When disappointed with friends who spent 15 minutes discussing the finer points of chicken salad on her ONE NIGHT OUT in forever. The "mechanism I'd once had inside my brain that allowed me to tolerate small talk had broken....Fifteen minutes in, I wanted to scream, 'Is anyone having some genuine feelings about something? Does anyone have something fascinating or funny or weird to discuss? Did anyone do anything today?'"
from p183: On depression. "When I was awake, I wished for sleep, and when I was asleep, I dreamed about being dead. Not about actually killing myself or getting hit by a train or anything that dramatic, just being not alive. What was the point of waking up?"
It might shock you to know that I can easily relate to ALL of this and so much more from these essays on Philpott's life. So if you're under the impression you are the only woman out there who ever has these feelings, please, do.not.think.that. Philpott decided to make a change and moved with her family from traffic-centric Atlanta to a slower-paced Nashville. While she eventually realized that who you are just follows you wherever you go, she also learned that you can change your circumstances at times, in small ways, and that helps. It is okay. Don't be afraid to make a change. Loved this book. Made for lively dinner conversation with the friend who recommended it.
I Peter 4:12-13 (MSG) "Friends, when life gets really difficult, don't jump to the conclusion that God isn't on the job. Instead, be glad that you are in the very thick of what Christ experienced. This is a spiritual refining process, with glory just around the corner."
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