Review of Desperate
This review is totally biased. I had no idea when I received the text to read and comment, that I had so much in common with the author!
PND with the first baby, a solid faith but needing to find a new way through new challenges, a ‘fiery’ (diplomatic…) middle child and 3 children aged 4 and under. There really is nothing new under the sun!
Needless to say, it resonated with me. I love the format – the way Sarah Mae and Sally take turns to write chapters provide the honest vulnerability of a woman “living it” with the wisdom and advice from a woman who can offer guidance through experience. That is a great formula and one I found very easy to engage with and really feel immersed in.
The challenge from the authors is to find both a mentor and a mentee (apparently, not a word. You know what I mean) to help us through this fairly intense parenting stage. We all feel better when we’re giving! I don’t know if I can practically make that happen. I’d love to, but I’m stumped. I’m also very fortunate to have a great supportive family around, so I feel less urgent about purposely creating that support network, or village to raise my children. I think it is worth thinking on more though. There will undoubtedly be blessings in diversity, so perhaps there will be more to come in that vein.
Overall, I loved this book. Personally, I am not isolated in the way that Sarah Mae, in particular, describes, but I have been. Or at least I have felt that that way. I recognised the martyrdom in those ‘inner vows’ and I have most certainly muttered them too. I have chosen not to live in the fullness of the joy available to me because I’ve been gnawing on a bitter root instead. As I have already said, there is nothing new under the sun.
I was given the ePub format to review, which worked perfectly with my Kindle and on the Kindle Fire. It is available on amazon and Thomas Nelson. The links will open in new windows.
If you know a mum who’s struggling with her role, with how engulfing it can be, how isolating and how guilty she feels for thinking so, Desperate is a really good gift. Just to tell someone they are not alone in a non-confrontational way, or even for yourself if you don’t know how to break out of the rut. I haven’t got a bad word to say about it. It was refreshing, honest and very true to Sarah Mae’s writing style. If you like her blog, you will love her book.
The Best Thing
The best thing about making non-toxic cleaning products, apart from them being, well, non-toxic, is that you can let your 4 yr old wash the floor. They love it! Honest!
I made a cleaning spray that I’m using for everything with 2 teaspoons of baking soda, a squirt of washing up liquid and topped up with water. I was planning to use pure liquid organic castile soap (blah, blah, blah) but I couldn’t wait for it to arrive. So this is beyond cheap and fine for kids to ‘help’ with.
I think she’s playing Cinderella. Which makes me a bad guy. I’m fine with it.
Banana Mousse
My sister has a very good food blog. She likes to deny that it is one, but there sure is a lot of food on it. There’s lots of wisdom about family life, being a woman, and other things too, but it’s food-tastic since she started the GAPS diet. Anyway, she linked back to me because she referenced my banana mousse ‘recipe’ recently and I am getting hits via her post. Except I haven’t ever posted a recipe.
I am a bit of a kitchen disaster. It’s generally 50/50 whether it’s a hit or a miss in my house at dinner time. But I’m getting better. I’m really not ‘getting better’ enough to be listing made up recipes however. Still, this one is idiot proof. Unless you over whip the cream, walk away and it turns into butter. Easily done, so don’t get cocky.
Banana Mousse:
Puree some bananas. Just as many as you can spare. Depends how banana-ish you want it.
Whip some cream. Try to get raw. It’s so, so much better for you. But if you aren’t convinced of that already, you probably aren’t going to bother sourcing it for a 2 ingredient recipe. Well, that’s your call.
Mix them together.
If you feel fancy, add nutmeg.
That is it. My children love it and so do I, and it’s a refined sugar free dessert. But I don’t think it really counts as a recipe. Blending stuff isn’t exactly skilful, but a year ago I was removing wrappers and still burning it, so baby steps…
I don’t make very ‘pretty’ food, so I have presented it as it is most frequently seen – smeared around a child’s mouth.
Enjoy!
