Deep South Moms

I'm learning to FLY

This week I bought a book that’s supposed to change my life.  I’ve known about this book for a while but I finally decided I was really ready to try it.  Probably some leftover New Year’s resolution hormone.  I’m sure a lot of you have heard of the FlyLady.  For those who haven’t, her real name is Marla Cilley and she’s been helping people like me get rid of the CHAOS in their lives since 1999.  CHAOS is the term she coined for “Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome” (because your house is so messy or disorganized that you are embarrassed when anyone drops over).

The book  (Sink Reflections, Bantam Books) is a very straight forward, easy to follow plan to take control of your house that relies heavily on routine.  Daily routines and weekly routines that, over time, are supposed to result in actually spending less time cleaning and having a much cleaner house, and a much better attitude to boot.  Now I know routine means boring to some folks, but I’m a big fan of routine.  Without it, I tend to waste a lot of time and let important things like daily showers parent meetings and dental appointments slip through the cracks.

This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper: A Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Club

For many of us, we find ourselves in the middle position, taking care of our kids and taking care of our aging parents. What happens when the unthinkable, and inevitable, happens - when one of our parents die? And what happens if your own life is pretty messed up when that happens? For October's Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers' monthly book club, we are reading and discussing a book that chronicles a slightly dysfunctional family as they spend time together following their father's death. 

Join in as Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers discuss book  This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper.

• New York City Moms Blog's Helen P leads us off
• Chefdruck from Chefdruck Musings relates "Mom called. The dog died."
• Gayle from Everyday I Write the Book reviews This is Where I Leave You
• Sophia from Moody Mommy thinks about brother estrangement
• Julie from Just Precious asks what else is there to do with 168 hours?
• Wife and Mommy from Wife and Mommy imagines A WHOLE WEEK with her ENTIRE family
• Alma from Marketing Mommy is brought back in time with the line "Dad's dead"
• Heidi from Coast 2 Coast Mom thinks about how not having children changes everything
• Amy from Le ShallowGal relates some shivas she sat and one she didn't
• Melanie from Tales from the Crib makes a confession
• Cindy from We All Fall Down says this is where I take you to the movies
• Jessica from It's My Life puts the functional in dysfunctional
• Nicole from Not Just a Working Mom puts the fun in dysfunctional
• Ana from Finding BonggaMom is thinking about babies
  
• Fabulous Miss S from Fabulous Miss S thinks her husband could relate to Barry and his BlackBerry
  

More posts will be put up throughout the day on our writer's personal sites, so be sure to check back to follow along.

New York City Moms Blog is hosting the book club discussion this month. Please go here to leave a comment and join in the discussion.

Read about the book This is Where I Leave You here.

Past Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Clubs have included:

• Do One Nice Thing by Debbie Tenzer
• Birth Day by Mark Sloan, M.D.
• What Happened to the Girl I Married? by Michael Miller
• Testimony by Anita Shreve
• Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
• Much to Your Chagrin by Suzanne Guilette
  
• It Started with Pop-Tarts by Lori Hanson
• Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
• The White Trash Moms Handbook by Michelle Lamar
• Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
• The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears
• The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross

If you are an author or a publisher and have a book that you would like to submit for consideration for a future Silicon Valley Moms Group book club, please contact us at info (at) svmoms dot com.

What Happened to the Girl I Married? by Michael Miller: A Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Club

Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers' monthly book club is tackling a subject today that can become heated. What DO stay-at-home-moms do all day?? We are a diverse group here on Silicon Valley Moms Group - we are SAHMs, working moms, WAHMs, moms somewhere in between. We ALL have different perspectives and we're sharing them today as we discuss what this guy, this dad, a Silicon Valley executive, learned when he walked a year in his SAHM wife's shoes. 

Join in as Silicon Valley Moms Group bloggers discuss the book What Happened to the Girl I Married? by Michael Miller.

• Silicon Valley Moms Blog's Jessica leads us off with a confession
• Julie from Just Precious toasts another 111 years of understanding, love, trust and family
• Sophia from Moody Mommy says she's NOT the girl he married
• Cynthia from Cynthia718 announces that the woman you married has left the building
• Bonnie from Just Peachy Baby loved the payback!
• Stacy from The Fabulous Miss S wants her husband to take another dude's word for it
• Erica from wellthoughtoutspot thinks about a parent's identity: segmentation or fragmentation?
• Nicole from Not Just a Working Mom and her husband don't really fit into a parenting category
• Silicon Valley Diva from Blog on the Wall turns the tables and asks what happened to the (french) guy she married?
• Melanie from Tales from the Crib thinks her husband will be getting a crash course on staying home with kids when she heads to BlogHer next week
• Bonggamom from Finding Bonggamom will also be leaving her husband next week to live her life...sort of...while she's at BlogHer
• Jennifer from Connect with your Teens asks: did marriage and kids change you?
• Amy from Le ShallowGal took the Seal/Heidi Klum angle on this book
• Rox from Rox and Roll muses on adaptability
• Chefdruck from Chefdruck Musings re-establishes a balance of power
• Laughing at Chaos from Never a Dull Moment says "OH, I'll tell ya what happened to the girl he married"
• Musings from Me from Musings from Me bristled at Mr. Fix It
• Linsey from Me Too You has never-ever-ending laundry
• Heidi from Coast 2 Coast Mom advises you to man-up and find yourself already
• Teresa from Elebelly thinks she may be at the point where she is ready to take care of herself, so she can take care of others
• Robin from My Life As It Is says I'm right here, you're right here
  
• Lori Landau declared The Girl You Married is a Woman 

More posts will be put up throughout the day on our writer's personal sites, so be sure to check back to follow along.

.... and if you have a post up on YOUR personal site on this topic, please leave a comment here and we will add your link!

About the book - read a description here.

Past Silicon Valley Moms Group Book Clubs have included:

• Testimony by Anita Shreve
  
• Comfort Food by Kate Jacobs
• Much to Your Chagrin by Suzanne Guilette
  
• It Started with Pop-Tarts by Lori Hanson
• Who By Fire by Diana Spechler
• The White Trash Moms Handbook by Michelle Lamar
• Writing Motherhood by Lisa Garrigues
• The Vaccine Book by Dr. Robert W. Sears
• The Other Mother by Gwendolen Gross