Mother's Guide to the Meaning of Life: What I've Learned in My Never-Ending Quest to Become a Dalai Mama

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

A humorist takes on the daily grind of motherhood in a series of witty, insightful, inspiring essays, anecdotes, and vignettes. 15,000 first printing.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Humor, Adult, Psychology

144 pages, Hardcover

Published April 7, 2001

About the author

SHORT BIO:

Amy Krouse Rosenthal was.
She divided her time.


NOT SO SHORT BIO:

Amy Krouse Rosenthal was a person who liked to make things.
Some things she liked to make include:

Children's books. (Little Pea, Spoon, DuckRabbit)
Grown-up books. (Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life)
Short films. (The Beckoning of Lovely, The Money Tree)
Guided journals. (The Belly Book)
Something out of nothing. (see above)

A longtime contributor to WBEZ and to the TED conference,
Amy lived with her family in Chicago and online at whoisamy.com.

Reviews

[Naomi Kenorak · Rating 4 out of 5]

This not a book that will revolutionize your life, yet it was full of the sort of insights that you should already know but have somehow failed to grasp even when you’ve experienced the same thing as the author: such as when your 2-year-old spends 30 minutes carefully putting piece after piece after piece of Scotch tape on a ribbon lying on the dining room floor. Despite your initial gut reaction, what your child is doing is NOT a gigantic waste of time or tape. In fact, “at that exact hour in their lives on that tiny X on their personal development grid charts, what they were doing was not only not pointless, it was very much the point.” I'd love to be able to remember that the next time my kids do something similar!

And then there are wonderful, relatable paragraphs like this: “I don’t know what I’m doing half the time. Don’t know if all my decisions and efforts and love will tally up in a way that means my children will walk away from the carnival with the jumbo stuffed animal. I do what I can, what is in my power, but there are just so many other factors at work: things that are predetermined at birth; things that happen at school; things that happen in the in-between spaces; things I can’t even fathom yet; things I’m unintentionally doing all wrong. That which is beyond my control, beyond my understanding, beyond the horizon, shrivels me.”

I think all of us parents feel that way, no matter what our kids are like. My very favorite part of the book were the “corrections” at the end, which were SO TRUE! For instance:

"In the future, the author will disappoint her children, make a bad decision, go against her gut, give in when she shouldn’t have, not give in when she should have, go out of the house looking like this, look at her child the wrong way, talk on the phone when she should have hung up and spent time with her child, not watch a child jump on one leg when she said she would. What she means to do is the right thing."

Amen!

[clara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh sweet, smart, funny, creative writer/woman/mother Amy Krouse Rosenthal. This sweet quick read really poked at my heart--it is about motherhood and it is written by and author who recently died all too soon. AKR you will be missed. Thanks for adding beauty to my world.

[Tobias · Rating 5 out of 5]

And yet another book by Amy Krouse Rosenthal that I loved from the first page until the last one.❤️

[RuthAnn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I borrowed this book from the library to preview it as a potential gift, but I think I was aiming for this book instead: Mother's Guide to the Meaning of Life: What Being a Mom Has Taught Me about Resiliency, Guilt, Acceptance, and Love. Are they ... not the same thing? My library doesn't have this other one, and I don't exactly want to purchase it without knowing, but this is confusing.

ANYWAY. The book I read was very Amy Krouse Rosenthal (RIP): funny, self-deprecating, quirky. Reading this book made me miss her all over again.

---

Whether one is starting a family, starting a book, or starting a revolution, there is never a shortage of reasons not to start. I can't start until I have it all figured out, until we buy a house, until my shipment of megaphones comes in. There's always some glitch, some delay, something that we convince ourselves needs to happen before we can officially begin. (2)

Let go of perfectionism. Just drop it. And look at it this way: If you really were a perfect mother, everyone would hate you. (27)

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm such a huge fan of her picture books and lots of that humor and sensibility is here too. I just wish I'd read the book much earlier. I think I'd have got more out of this book when my own boys were a little younger but I like how she includes passages from other moms with older children too. Somehow I think the 2009 date is not the original publishing date - it already feels just a bit dated with Palm Pilot jokes,etc. So many of us have become even more distracted by our devices than she cautioned about in one of the essays. Moms everywhere are ignoring their kids while texting away. A great reminder of how quickly this time passes and how to appreciate it all without being too hard on oneself.

[Monica Dragutinovich · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm a grandma now, but this book touched me despite it being written by someone with small children. The writer lived in my neighborhood and has since passed away. When I read about a memorial service for her, I decided to read some of her books. This is the first one so far and the kind of book you can pick up if you can only find 3 minutes at a time. I plan to give it to my daughters to read. They have young children and will totally relate to the craziness of the experience. But moreover, their hearts will be touched. Mine certainly was. She wrote from the heart and will be missed.

[Jeana · Rating 5 out of 5]

This woman blows my mind. She actually writes about things that I think about but never actually verbalize. She's brilliant. I would love to meet Amy K. R.
She is quirky and funny. I loved this book. If you're a mom and your kids have ever made you slightly crazy...put your feet up and read it.

[Lola · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick, enjoyable read. Has a little of everything. A bunch of laughs to offset the one time it makes you tear up, commiseration, validation, knowing there’s someone else who feels like you do, etc. Good read for any parent, dads included. Very, very fast. Like, you can read it in around an hour, give or take.

[Samantha Grabelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny. Clever. It amazes me that she feels comfortable writing of universal issues and thoughts when her life is so specific and different from many. It read less like a parenting book though than a collection of thoughts some of which I nodded at and some I just passed by.

[Libbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, Amy, how did you manage to publish the same book with 2 different sub-titles with 2 different publishers? Oh well, I enjoyed it all over again. Clever and funny insights always. I wish you had lived long enough to write clever insights about grandparenting.

[Carla · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just a little delight. I love Akr. Nothing amazing just a small quick read that will inevitably bring a smile, and a laugh ("dad has a cold")

I extra loved the lollipop tree story and want to do this with my kids... or any kids... soon

[Krissy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Jeanna for turning me on to this writer--brilliant picture books and witty books for mom, as well.

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just love AKR

[Jocelyn Montalvo Cullum]

I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12887409

[Alyson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was fun--see more at http://www.eatreadandbemommy.com/2014...

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read before Mother's Day. Amy Krause Rosenthal is at her finest when discussing her observations. Real, funny and philosophical.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful and I have never used that word lightly since an eighth grade writing assisgnment.

[Mees · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't let the title fool you; this is not a sentimental book, but rather a funny and poignant look at parenthood in the trenches.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was cute! I liked the chapter on guilt; it was a good perspective on being a mom!

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just love her books. Short. Relatable. Full of thought provoking tidbits, many that made me laugh out loud.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a funny, lovely little book by one of my favorite picture book authors. This book is now 14 years old, so a little dated in some of the references, but it would make a reassuring read for a new or expectant mother. And it took me down memory lane a bit as I contemplated the years when my children were little, and it even made me think even farther back about my life as a child.
I was a bit surprised at her list of favorite authors, because one of them is Ayn Rand (!). I can only assume she read Ms. Rand's work in her young adult/college years. Because when you read Rand after you have had children, you can only roll your eyes at the ridiculousness of "objectivism."

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I needed a break from feeling like a terrible mother. My mom gave me this book many years ago. I actually did read it back when I received but since then it has sat on a shelf in my basement. Then I couple of days ago, I needed a break and this book caught my eye. Thank you for the break.

[Ann Lewis · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you didn't get enough of AKR in Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life, here's a bit more, focusing on mothering. Equally delightful. I love her words and her way of looking at life. She makes me smile on every page. Oh, how the world must miss her!

[Jaime · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant. And I am so sad that I have finished all of her adult books (and most of her children’s books). She was classic, relevant, funny, honest and I still cannot believe she is gone. I feel so lucky that she published her writing to share.

[Shay Ragsdale · Rating 4 out of 5]

Full of fun little insights and stories and easy to read. The sporadic stores and doodles and quotes throughout the information definitely makes me feel understood as a mom who has so much going on in my head to talk about one thing or follow one path at a time.

[Joni McNeal · Rating 5 out of 5]

So true and funny. It’s sad to think she didn’t live to see her kids grow up.

[Eliza · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a proto- Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life.

[Kristen McBee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh, Amy. You remind me that I’m doing great and everything is going to be okay. I hope you know that though your life has ended, your impact on me has not.

[Tigressp81 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sweet and funny little memoir/advice book. Good for a mom with young kids.

[Amber Mcmath · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the book I've always hoped was out there! She's witty but tender and you'll read it in one sitting.