The Busy Mom's Guide: A Review

The Busy Mom's Guide to a Happy Organized Home by Kathy Peel is exactly what it says it is: a guide for busy moms! This is a quick read, full of helpful charts, suggestions, checklists, and strategies for organizing your home and family life efficiently.

What makes this book different from many others I've read is hard to explain. I really liked Peel's emphasis in chapter 1 on identifying priorities. She challenges the reader to make sure that she is mothering according to her priorities, not someone else's (or the media's); she challenges the reader to evaluate every area by this same standard. This simple exercise really helped me take a hard look at some of my activities and practices within the home and determine whether or not I was operating according to my professed beliefs and priorities.

Another approach I appreciated was her division of the home/family into 7 main areas; Peel has talked about her Family Manager system in other works and uses these same 7 categories: home, children, etc. This book is a quick overview of the 7 areas and what you might need to know about them. You can find much more detailed cleaning information in other places or more thorough financial checklists, but if you're a busy mom, you don't have time! This is the book for you!

My parents have known the Peels for a long time (which is how I ended up with a copy of this book), so there is a little personal connection for me here. In addition, you might want to know that Kathy Peel is a Christian. The book is not explicitly Christian, but there is definite emphasis on both spiritual areas as well as counsel that is in keeping with biblical thought (even though it is not expressly presented as such). I encourage you to skim through a copy the next time you're at Borders or Barnes and Noble (or simply order it via amazon).