Sing Your Own Song: A Guide for Single Moms

by Cynthia Orange

Book Overview

A refreshingly different motherhood manual... Cynthia Orange brings equal parts information and inspiration to this pragmatic yet soulful guide for single moms. Managing time and money, juggling the demands of work and child care, balancing personal needs with parenting responsibilities-these are the everyday concerns Orange addresses with preach-free common sense and welcome candor. Interwoven with firsthand stories and experiences, Sing Your Own...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1568385722
• ISBN13: 9781568385723
• Release Date: February 2001
• Publisher: Hazelden
• Length: 208 Pages
• Weight: 0.65 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 5.4" x 8.4"

Customer Reviews

What Every Mother Needs to Know

I wish someone had given me this book when I was raising my children. Although I was not a single mother, the wise advice to be gentle with yourself and take care of yourself are issues for every mother trying to balance many demands in her life. The practical pointers on parenting, rethinking family and creating community are useful for all parents. This wisdom is delivered with warm support, compassion and gentleness. It feels like a hug from the mother/grandmother we all wish we had.I have also worked with single mothers who struggled under a great deal of stress. They would have found this book a welcome resource for making decisions, solving problems, finding support, developing confidence and building relationships.

One Afternoon In An Italian Restaurant

My waitress saw me reading the book and introduced herself as a single mom. When I told her what it was about - taking care of yourself - she got tears in her eyes. She began telling me of her week. She had two little boys and a hectic schedule. "Could this have been written for me?" Yes, it was, and is written for all single mothers. I applaud the author. Her sensitivity and heart-felt honesty laced with humor, make this helpful tool a must read for all parents.

Sing Your Own Song

Every single mother struggling to affirm the validity of a single parent family should make this a "must read". The author includes personal and humorous anecdotes as well as suggestions and illustrations from professionals who deal with children and mothers in one parent families. I particularly found the sections dealing with children in schools helpful and practical. Extending the book to today's realities of caring for aging parents adds an interesting dimension. The myth of the "Beaver Cleaver" family is dissolved, and in it's place, author Cynthia Orange creatively paints a picture of a positive and healthy family made up of a mother and her children.

Exceptional work

I'm usually not a big fan of self-help. In fact, I usually consider self-help to be an instrument of the Devil or, worse, the Republicans. Yet I was pleasantly surprised by this book. Cynthia Orange's prose is without the preachiness and dogma usually associated with self-help. This is a smooth, colorful read, well-written with lots of stories about the experiences of individual women. What I like is that the writer isn't portraying herself as some pseudo-expert, but merely conveying the tales of others in a non-judgmental, peaceful and uplifting manner. It helped me get a profoundly better understanding of what my wife has experienced in her life, and at this price, it's a helluva lot cheaper than therapy.