The Toy Box Years: No More Perfect Moms

The Creators of the Toy Box Years

The creators of the Toy Box Years are my two beautiful daughters and wonderful, handsome soldier husband.

"Nani" (our oldest) is a 11 year old 6th grader who loves Taylor Swift, ballet, books, fashion designing and sewing. Ask her what she wants to be when she grows up and it changes daily to anything from "an artist" to "a teacher" to "a singer/dancer". Nani is also currently fighting a battle against brain cancer -- recently diagnosed in June 2016.

"Nudgie" (our youngest) is a very smiley, very happy, very giggly, very spirited 8 year old 3rd Grader who's favorite toys are anything that gives mommy an anxiety attack - ladders, stepstools, the climbing wall at the playground. Like her sister, she has a love of reading and coloring, loves gymnastics and still provides mommy lots of snuggle time!

"My Marine" is my high school sweetheart. We've been married over 20 years and met when we were 17. (You do the math....) His favorite toys are Blackhawk helicopters, the lawnmower, our steam cleaner, and microbrew beer bottles. My husband is also my hero in that he proudly serves his country as a Blackhawk crew chief (hence his favorite toy!). And need I say that there is nothing hotter than my man in uniform!

All About Me......

Once upon a time I had a career and worked in the corporate world. Once upon a time, I dreamed about leaving that all behind to follow my true calling -- being a wife and mommy.

The first part of my calling was fulfilled in 1995 when I married my Marine (now soldier) and my love. Little did I know that being a military wife would change me in so many ways and that because of that, I would have an extended family all over the world from Japan, to California, to North Carolina.

The second part of my calling took a little doing, but I finally achieved that dream in 2004 with the birth of our first child, followed 4 years later by her baby sister.

So now, when someone asks me what I do for a living - I simply smile and say proudly that I'm following my calling - I'm a mommy and a wife -- and I couldn't be HAPPIER -- I'm living in the Toy Box Years!!

I'm a big fan of reading self-help books....particularly books about being a mom, about being a perfectionist, and about being a perfectionist mom!

Awhile back, I came across a post from Jill Savage announcing the publication of her new book, "No More Perfect Moms". As I read more and more about it, I just knew that I had to order it. It was calling to me.

In this season of deployment, I always feel like I have to be perfect....perfect mom, perfect military wife, perfect FRG leader. When I fall short -- which is almost every day -- I don't like it and I get harder on myself....setting myself up for future failure. Pretty vicious circle, don't you think?

With all of this in mind, I was all ready to preorder the book when I got an email stating that I had been selected to be a part of the launch team for this amazing book. As part of the launch, I was also given an advance electronic copy of the book to read. When I started reading it last night, I realized more and more that this book was written for me....at least that's how I felt reading the first chapter. With every sentence, I was thinking, "Yes! This is me!" or "Oh my....it's like Jill is talking directly to me!"

I encourage all moms out there to read this book. In fact, I challenge you to read the book! There's a number of ways that you can experience the full impact of this book and it's message:

1. Sign up for Jill's "No More Perfect Moms" 31-Day Email Challenge. You don't need the book to participate in the challenge, and I've already signed up. I'm thinking that this will be a good way to kick off the New Year! Sign up by clicking HERE and get ready for January 1st!

2. Wait until the week of February 4-9 to buy the book! By waiting until then to buy the book, you will also be able to receive additional bonus resources such as e-books, audio workshops, and much, much more! Click HERE to read more about the bonuses and to sign up for a reminder about the release date.

3. Visit the "No More Perfect Moms" Website. Click HERE to view this great resource where you can go to share stories and read more about the book.

4. Attend the 2013 Hearts at Home National Conference. This amazing conference will be held March 15-16 in Normal, IL and on November 8-9 in Rochester, MN. The theme will be "No More Perfect Moms". Click HERE for more information on the conference and featured speakers. If you are unable to attend the conference (like me!), you can also register for the "Conference To Go" where you can receive recordings of the main speakers and up to 3 workshops. For more information on the "Conference To Go", click HERE

I am very excited about digging deeper into this book and I hope that you will get excited and join me! I will be blogging about each chapter and my thoughts as I go through this journey, and I hope that you'll come back and read more!

Be sure to subscribe to my blog so that you don't miss any future posts! You can also get updates through my blog's Facebook Page as well!

An electronic copy of "No More Perfect Moms" was provided to me as part of the book's launch team.

All opinons and comments are my own.

4 comments:

Natasha December 30, 2012 at 7:01 AM: Sara Horn has two great books you might like (if you haven't already read them): God Strong and the Tour of Duty Bible study. Pretty awesome! Great biblical helps.
Unknown December 30, 2012 at 7:08 AM: I felt the same way when I started reading it, like Jill was writing directly to me! God's going to do mighty things through this book.
Anonymous December 30, 2012 at 5:53 PM: This sounds like a wonderful resource for every mom, Jennifer! Thank you for reviewing it and giving all the links.
Happy New Year to you and your family, Jenn...you are a terrific mom and wife and leader!
Natalie PlanetSmarty December 30, 2012 at 5:56 PM: It sounds interesting. I signed up for the challenge, because I often feel like a very imperfect Mom myself. Thanks for writing about the book!