I have been a reader of Dawn’s blog for some time now, and I really enjoy what she has to say. She is the mom of six – count ‘em, six – beautiful kids (with beautiful names, I might add), and has a great perspective on the trials and tribulations associated with raising those little ones into responsible members of society. With her great sense of humor and bright outlook on life, Dawn has written a book telling stories about her own experiences and passing on wisdom and humor to other moms.
Her experiences definitely require a sense of humor. When children paint a television set with yogurt, it isn’t every mom that would be able to laugh about it. Dawn does, though, and it’s cute when she tells it. (In a way, this book is good birth control. Seriously…I think I developed some serious fears of parenthood just from reading about her experiences.)
However – and this is hard for me to say – I do have one negative critique of her book, and to me, it is a serious one. Throughout the book, and in one chapter dedicated especially to this topic, Dawn criticizes her husband and refers to him as her “seventh child.” She laughs at his blunders and shares his faults with all of us, which to me, is not funny. To me, reading those lines created an awkward feeling as I could sense disrespect in her words. She backtracks and says that she does respect him and that he is a good father to their children; however, elaborating on faults and laughing at him in a public forum does not, to me, convey respect for him. In my humble opinion, respect is one of the greatest gifts a wife can give to her husband, and I did not feel like the writing in this book was respectful in that way.
That’s just my opinion, and I mean no disrespect to Dawn by saying that. Her book is well-written and entertaining, and I applaud her ability to publish a book when she is, after all, raising six children. That is no small feat. I will continue to read her blog, for sure, and the next time one of her children paints the dog, I will be right there to comment and wish her well on cleaning it up.
3 of your thoughts:
I agree about the respect thing. Our society seems to think it's acceptable for women to refer to their husbands as one of the kids--like a certain paper towel commercial, or a woman to Oprah chat. It attacks the very thing that motivates our men and makes them feel loved!
I try not to attack Dave ever, but on occasion, because I just tell anything and everything, I'll tell a story that makes him look bad and he'll say, "THanks, Becca, I wanted that shared with the whole world," and it's a good reminder to me about what things should be said aloud and what shouldn't since i really don't have a filter. I never mean to disrespect him or demean him. I demean myself certainly as much and definitely more than that, but it's something I work on.
Thanks for stopping by today! I too so enjoy finding another fellow Christian Sister!!!
I so appreciate your honest review of that book. That's an excellent point. I think people "joke" & say things without much though & that's an excellent view you have.
BTW - looking at your other posts. you have a beautiful family! :)
The nipples we use are the evenflo nipples that come with the breast pump system. They're very similar in shape to the nuk bottles. But I saw those in Walmart today and asked my sister to get me some since she's coming and wants to give Noelle a gift. They look similar.
And, yes, she does that every time--at least lately. Poor Dave! Once I'm there, it's not so bad. I just give her the breast and she's happy. My breasts are like her happy button.
Other than the bottle feeding, she doesn't often cry like that. I mean she does, but it can be pacified with lots of bouncing and back patting and sometimes mylicon. If that fails, she eventually cries herself out and falls asleep in your arms. She can be fussy, but usually we can figure out the cure. But poor Dave. Please pray that she starts to take the bottle. He gets so frustrated that he can't help her.
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