Title: I Am a Mother
Author: Jane Clayson Johnson
Genre: Parenting
The Parts I Liked Best:
(1) What makes this book unique is how Jane shares exciting stories from her broadcasting career and draws principles from those experiences that can be applied to motherhood. As she interviewed comedienne Phyllis Diller, for example, she first expected Phyllis to be loud, crazy, and wild. However, once Phyllis realized that she and Jane wore the same shoe size, she brought Jane into her closet and told her the stories behind several pairs of her shoe collection (which consisted of over 200) as she had Jane try them on. Jane learned that Phyllis was a “real” woman—with sorrows, health problems, and other human experiences like the rest of us. As Jane literally walked in Phyllis’ shoes, she realized that we often judge other women, especially mothers, when we do not know what their lives are really like.
(2) In the chapter “Can I Quit Now?” Jane reviews many myths that plague us as mothers. For example, “Needing help is a sign of weakness” or “Motherhood means loss of identity.” She teaches us how to be gentler with ourselves and realize that we do not have to buy into society’s myths. “And rather than losing my identity with the children, the irony is, I actually feel as though I have further identified my true self. I’ve worked my way through often difficult and complicated, but very human, emotions…and found love and peace and tremendous happiness” (p.92).
(3) One final experience she shares in the last two pages of the book demonstrates the kind of confidence we should all have regarding our work with our children. Jane was walking through the lobby of a hotel in Florida with her stepchildren and baby, when she was recognized by a person she had interviewed and worked with on The Early Show. He was dressed immaculately, as always, but she was in her “mom clothes,” not wearing any make-up, and perhaps not looking as glamorous as she did in her “previous life.” The man asked her, “So…what are you up to these days–just a mom?” She surprised herself as she smiled and responded, “No! No…I am a mother!” She reports, “He got my message” (p.126-127).
How This Book Made an Impact In My Life, Especially as a Mother (or why I just really liked it):
This was probably one of my favorite “mom” books because Jane spoke about the heart of what we are experiencing as mothers. She did not place judgment on women who are not stay-at-home moms, nor did she set herself up as the ideal mother. I was hesitant to read this book because I thought I would feel inadequate compared to Jane, who has had so much public success. Instead, I feel like I am her sister, and she reminds me to focus on how important I am to my children and to society—not on how “unimportant” I am to the world. She also reminded me that I have the power to influence others for good, and I can choose to spend my time wisely, so I can be, as Mother Theresa, “a pencil in God’s hand.”
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