Book Review: Momology: A Mom's Guide to Shaping Great Kids (by Shelly Radic - MOPS)

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     In the past, I've been hesitant to read or recommend "mom" or "motherhood" types of books.  Many books about motherhood follow philosophical reasoning that I don't agree with.  Other parenting and "mom" books go against biblical principles. 

     Sometimes, I've even decided not to read Christian parenting magazines or books because I realized that their philosophies and methods go against biblical principles.

     Most moms work hard to figure out their basic philosophies of motherhood, discipline, and parenting. 

    I'm no different.  Sometimes, I find it hard to keep some of my own "rules" for parenting and motherhood to myself.  I'm so far from perfect, and I have to rely on the Lord Jesus to keep me in check and remind me to "hush up for a minute" and be a better and more respectful listener.

     At the same time, I've been a careful observer over the last twenty years to watch other moms and silently learn from them what I call "great practices" that bring about excellent results in their parenting efforts.  There are many choices I've made in my parenting that I could point directly to a verse in Scripture, or to a mom friend of mine, or something my pastor mentioned, etc., that I specifically use in my parenting with my children...and those things are having great results.  On the flip side, there are some techniques and methods I've used over the years that don't produce fruit, so those have been tossed by the wayside, or my view about them has changed.

     Because I've enjoyed learning about motherhood from the Bible and many mom friends, I agreed to read and review Momology:  A Mom's Guide to Shaping Great Kids by Shelly Radic, published by Revell.   Radic is chief of staff at MOPS International.  I had attended MOPS gatherings (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers) for a couple of years starting when my oldest daughter was a few months old.  I met a few women there who were kind and helpful, and I enjoyed attending MOPS. 

     I figured that if one of the MOPS' "main gals" was writing a book about motherhood, I'd be interested in reading it...so here is my review.

     Momology:  A Mom's Guide to Shaping Great Kids isn't as much of a parenting book as I thought it would be.  Mrs. Radic's goal is to directly show moms how their opinions, views, life practices, and habits can shape them as mothers, which in turn will shape their children. 

     Momology is based on research from:

1.  SEARCH Institute
2.  YMCA
3.  Barna Group
4.  Parenting experts
5.  Government agencies and their reports
6.  Major universities
7.  1,800 moms who participated in in-depth surveys

     There are four main areas of motherhood that Mrs. Radic believes contribute to shaping great kids:

1.  Knowing who we are:  building a healthy, resilient mom CORE

2.  Knowing what we're capable of:  developing FINESSE in the ways we daily interact with our kids

3.  Knowing who we can count on:  interacting within a CIRCLE of relationships that support us and our kids

4.  Knowing who God is:  Engaging with Him in His GRANDSCAPE

     Radic provides excellent research, personal surveys and interviews, personal stories, and Scripture verses that explain each of these four main areas of successful motherhood.

     While you won't find tons of specific parenting techniques in this book, you will find clear evidence of what differentiates successful mothering from unsuccessful mothering.  Little snippets of information, ideas, suggestions, and honest confession all work together to help each reader get started on the pathway to becoming a stronger mother in the four areas.

     I found that the chapters in Momology provided a lot of food for thought.  This would be an excellent book to be shared and used as a weekly Bible study with other moms.  I would caution, however, that a leader would want to be selected who would be strong enough in her Christian faith to ultimately bring group discussions back to the Holy Scriptures in a way that would enable other attending moms to feel respected and honored if they were either very young in their Christian faith or weren't yet believers.

     I really liked the long-term view that Mrs. Radic takes in her concepts about parenting.  She frequently suggests that mothers look ahead to the future when making decisions or parenting in a certain style...and ask themselves, "How is this going to affect my child in the future?" 

     I also enjoyed reading this quote about how quickly the childhood years fly by:

     "When an older mom asked [a younger mom] what the family did on weekends, the young mom shared, 'Errands and housework.'  The older mom gently informed her friend that every childhood holds only 936 weekends, asking her to estimate how many weekends had been spent so far on errands and housework.  Since the little guy was almost four, it turned out to be just over two hundred.  Shocked by how many precious weekends were already gone, the young mom reevaluated, choosing to spend a higher percentage of weekend time on activities that would build the childhood memories she wanted to shape her son's life."  (Momology, pg. 95)

     Isn't that powerful? 

     There were so many things in this book that caused me to ponder.  That is always a good thing! 

     This book is unusual among "mom" books and "women" books, because it doesn't allow the reader to have a pity party for herself, while at the same time it also helps remove some of the false guilt mothers struggle with for this or that. 

   Reading Momology:  A Mom's Guide to Shaping Great Kids will help mothers feel more confident in what they are doing, give them skills to improve, help them identify their strengths and weaknesses, point them to online tools that will help them understand themselves more completely, and help set goals.  This is an excellently written book, different from most Christian motherhood books on the market today.  I was impressed with it!

     What are some ways you've found to capitalize on your children's precious weekend time as a family?

     How have your views of motherhood changed over the years since you became a mother?

A free copy of Momology was provided to me for the purpose of providing my opinion of this book in a written review.  No other compensation was provided.

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