Momnipotent: The Not-So-Perfect Woman's Guide to Catholic Motherhood

by Danielle Bean

Is being a mother what you thought it would be? The exhaustion, monotony, mounting unfinished projects, a loss of a sense of self … Too many moms, especially young and new moms, do in fact feel disillusioned. Maybe you feel you’ve been sold a bill of goods, that success and happiness are not possible through the vocation to motherhood. Many moms quietly resign themselves to the idea that success, happiness and fulfillment are things they will need to find in spite of motherhood, not because of it. In Momnipotent, Danielle Bean understands all this first-hand and meets women where they are. With great wit, wisdom, and compassion, she provides much-needed encouragement to all women and beautifully resonates with their feminine hearts. Momnipotent empowers women to take control of their lives by providing tried and true direction on how to make important changes—changes that will help them find lasting happiness in their vocation and satisfaction in their relationships.

Genres: Parenting, Catholic, Nonfiction, Christian, Faith, Religion, Book Club

187 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 1, 2014

Reviews

[Allison Faught · Rating 5 out of 5]

For the moms out there who:
Feel like they do too much 😵‍💫
Feel like they do too little 😓
Are hands off 🖐️
Are smother mothers 🫠
Think your kid(s) are the greatest thing since sliced bread 🍞
Think your kid(s) drive you crazy 🤪
Or if you’re a mom, like me, with each of these qualities then this is the book for you!
I read this for my women’s studies class through my church and I felt so fulfilled reading this as I felt very seen and heard.
I was in this class with about 30 other women from all different walks of life and different kinds of families. Blended families, divorced families, biological kids, adopted kids, etc. We all had one thing in common and that’s being a mom.
The journaling portion of this book had us break off into groups and talk about the prompts which usually consisted of comparing yourself to others, social media, sticking up for your family and kids and keeping score in all that you do for your family and around the house (FYI: if you keep score, you never win.)
It was incredibly enlightening to meet many women who shared my same frustrations, anxieties, happiness, sadness and hope.
The author has a podcast that I’m very interested in listening to! She seems totally down to earth and like someone I would absolutely befriend.
There was one tiny part about how it’s okay to ‘just be a mom’ and nothing else and that’s okay. I had differing opinions about that but I also completely respect the author’s honesty and viewpoint and I can see her logic in regards to it.
4.5⭐️ rounding up.

[Ann Warren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. I particularly liked how she took different aspects of the feminine genius and showed how they could be strengths and yet also weaknesses. Great stories and humor throughout. As a study, I would skip the videos. They were too long and didn’t match up with the content in the book. I found our discussions to be much more fruitful.

[Jessica Allain · Rating 1 out of 5]

Cool idea and format, poor execution and writing. This was an offensive ball of gender stereotypes dipped in double standards.

[Jen S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book, but I honestly thought the journal & DVD discussion with other moms was WAY more valuable. If there isn't one, start one.

[Shannon Sacoman · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book read more like a series of blog posts and didn't have much in it that I hadn't already read or discussed. My discussions with other moms took me much further.

[Danielle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great and easy to read. The layout made reading a little at a time easy with kids constantly interrupting me. Her words read easy like a conversation with a friend. It is an uplifting book. A reminder that life is a simple blessing. A reminder that we women are not all that different. Rely on God and use your strengths to share hope. Women have many hats and even motherhood looks different. Mary set an amazing example and Danielle Bean draws some beautiful examples of Mary's grace for us to look upon.

[Rosanna Iseri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Refreshing! I read a chapter a day while my toddler son either played with his toys or watched TV. It was like a mini spiritual retreat for me those 11 or so days! Always looked forward to my morning reflecting. Pondering looking into the study and holding a small group for a moms group sometime! It's awesome to see the struggles and joys of mom life in the eyes of our Catholic faith and the gift of the vocation of motherhood.

[Alethea · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this book, Danielle Bean touches on some of a woman’s greatest strengths in their motherhood. She raises some great points but a lot of chapters left me wanting more. They felt like they barely scratched the surface. That said, I received this book as part of signing up to the Momnipotent course, and it means a lot more in conjunction with that than it would have on its own.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was great writing, a really easy read, but I felt some parts were repetitive. It could have been cut down a bit. My group also watched the videos, and I got way more out of the book than the videos. I would still definitely recommend it!

[Allison Deeds · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the perfect book for when you are in the heat of motherhood. Questioning everything, not knowing or recognizing your value or purpose, just finding your way. Powerful and motivating to remember to shift your perspective to what really is important at the end of they day.

[Mrs C · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is exactly the thing I needed to read. Nothing overly flowery, this book relies on scripture to form the thesis that motherhood is just doing and doing it well. I really liked it.

[Sara W · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading this book. I think it had some good nuggets of information and advice, but I don’t think it accomplished what it said it would.

[Elise Chandler · Rating 4 out of 5]

Accessible, love the quizzes for check-ins and specific feedback.

[Scrumhalf · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not terrible ideas and a great topic, but there are a lot of other books on this subject written with a lot more heart and depth.

[Katharyn Baker · Rating 5 out of 5]

They should issue this along with What to Expect when you are Expecting

[Michelle Rogers · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It was encouraging with some good tips. When I read it was timed well as it really helped boost and encourage me to continue to grow in my vocation as a mother. I really liked how she broke down parts of the feminine genius and discussed the strengths and weaknesses related to each portion.
If you are considering using it as a study, I do have to say the book was very good the DVDs were good but a little long and didn't match with the book chapters so we tried to match chapters to dvd topics with some success, but that is the main downside of using this book with the other study pieces.

[Sarah Carter · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m always looking for books to help me on my journey as a mother. I think I came across Danielle Bean when a friend of mine either read her book or started following her on Facebook. I decided to grab her book called Momnipotent and give it a read.
Momnipotent: The Not-So-Perfect Woman’s Guide to Catholic Motherhood is broken down into chapters and quizzes to help mothers on topics such as materialism, emotions, perfectionism, busy-ness, and smothering among others. I like that the author talks about each topic having a strength and a weakness to it and then follows it with a short quiz so you can evaluate how you are faring on that topic. For example, on emotions, she notes that women feel things deeply (a positive), but can let our emotions rule our lives where we wind up unbalanced and unhappy (a negative). She tackles each topic with personal stories (she admits to being in the trenches working on these issues with us), Bible verses, theological documents and stories of saints.
The author is a Catholic writer and editor and mother of eight children. She believes that every woman is called to be a “mother” in some sense by using her unique femininity to help and serve others. While the book is geared toward moms, any young woman would be able to identify with most of the topics covered and will find useful guidance in it.
I enjoyed this book and I think the usefulness of it will depend on your stage in life. I think this book would have spoken to me a lot more when I was a younger mother. I have tackled many of these topics in my own life already, but who knows, I may have to tackle them again.

[Hope · Rating 4 out of 5]

What an enjoyable little book. Simple, accessible, practical. Reading this book felt like a big hug. This book is an affirmation to the vocation of motherhood. It was filled with stories, quotes from the Catechism, quotes from the Popes, advice, prayers, even quizzes. It was heartfelt. All of it pointing to the gifts and importance of being a mother. The book is greatly enriched by watching the accompanying dvds. Definitely worth the read!

[Lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was the first book I've read that incorporated TOB without the book being about TOB in a direct fashion. I liked how practical and down-to-earth this book is. It's every woman's book. There is no one too smart, too advanced, or too elite to benefit from the concepts presented in this book. I am confident I will read and re-read this book in the years to come.

[Christy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great tie ins to the Theology of the Body and a moms regular life. I think this book definitely lends itself to a groups read and discussion, although I still found it useful, if not amazing, reading it on my own. Recommended to young moms for sure!

[Erika Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is just what I've been needing right now. I got a little misty-eyed only reading the front and back covers! I'm excited to read this but also don't want it to end. It's like having a good friend right there with me as I stumble through motherhood.

[Meg Macgill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good mix of down to earth humor and insight as to how we can change our thinking a bit to help us as moms and people.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Preachy

[Christen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really love this book and the videos and series!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

I expected this to be preachy and full of fluff. It does have some fluff: it's a bit wordy and the "quizzes" at the end of each chapter were gimmicky. But many of her points really spoke to me.

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written, but not deep enough for me