Tag: review

Book Review: A Stitch In Time by Beryl Kingston

Published on by Lindsey B.Leave a comment

A Stitch In Time by Beryl Kingston, my latest NetGalley title, was both excellent and easy to read! 

This historical novel was filled with descriptive prose and emotion.  Set during WW1 and the Roaring Twenties, the tale follows one family determined to make their way despite the hardships of life in lower-class London and the intertwining of their lives with an upper-class family full of dysfunction despite their wealth. 

Once I could read through the cant (mostly the first few chapters) I was enmeshed in Rose’s narrative. In turns heartbreaking, surprising, comical, and filled with grit, it was a remarkable book.

Women were extraordinary through the Great War and the lives they built afterwards were inspiring, as reflected in this work.  The determination to keep on – pull up the bootstraps and rely on each other, the resilience of families (as built by blood and by choice), and the hardships faced were unimaginable, but Kingston did well in painting this picture as a complete and colourful portrait of triumph in a rapidly changing landscape.

Note:  this title was first published in 1995 as Alive and Kicking.

Published by Agora Books; current publication date: November 22, 2018

I received a complimentary copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and/or the publisher in exchange for my honest reviews. Opinions expressed are entirely my own.

Book Review: The Happiness Project by Pippa James

Published on by Lindsey B.Leave a comment

Have you ever noticed that women need each other, but especially mothers need someone on their team?  Have you noticed that sometimes other moms can be just horrible in their judgement and criticism?  Have you ever felt convinced you were messing up your kids irreparably? Wondered if you’re slowly poisoning them because they won’t eat a darn vegetable despite your best efforts?  Wanted to crash on your best friend’s couch in yoga pants with tears because it seems like you do everything at home, and at work, and at school?  If you can relate to any of those questions… you’ll relate to my latest read. 

 
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and/or author through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
 
My first read of 2019 and a new-to-me author: Pippa James.  The Happiness Project was a charming glimpse into the life of three mothers as they make a list of New Years Resolutions together.  Being a mother myself, I found I could relate to all of the women at times. I could sympathize with their worries of failure, the desire to not be judged less-than, and the questioning of their parenting choices.  Each woman’s personality was well-developed – and with that, of course, was the fact that you may love them at times and detest them at times, and some days they were just off – much like real life. 
 
The storyline meandered nicely.  It wasn’t too slow, it wasn’t too fast – just a nice walk through their lives, culminating happily (which I will admit made me want to go join a fun run.)  A great fictional reminder – at times humorous, often heartfelt – that as women and mothers we need to find our tribes and back them up.  It was a pleasant read, but may have been more gripping if I had read Pippa’s “I Will Survive” first. However, it definitely can be read as a stand-alone novel – easy enough to figure out. 
 
Caution for those who do not approve of swearing in their novels as one of the characters had a rougher vocabulary than the others.  I did not find this detracting as it seamlessly fit with her cheekiness as a whole. A timely plot considering the new year that’ll make you want to grab your best mummy friends and share the love.
 
Published by Bookouture;  Publication Date February 12, 2019

Goodbye Goodnites!

Published on by Lindsey B.Leave a comment

My name is Lindsey and I’m the mother of a reformed bedwetter.  I hesitated to even post this online because the child who suffered with bedwetting is quite sensitive about it.  It didn’t seem to matter how many times we tried to be reassuring or supportive. It didn’t matter how many times we told him he wasn’t the only one and that there’s a significant family history of bedwetting.   Lately, it had become a BIG HUGE EMBARRASSING fact of life for the kid.

After endless purchases of pull ups and goodnites, conversations with the doctor, trying to wake at regular intervals,  limiting drinks before bed, and (mistakenly) just winging it, we discovered a (highly expensive) product that saved the day (so worth it!)

If you have an older bedwetter (remember my kids are 7&9… and in the interest of protecting the privacy of the one who dealt with this,  I’m not narrowing it down), give the Chummie Elite Bedwetting System a try.  We purchased ours on Amazon.ca, albeit somewhat leerily.

We started using it layered (underwear,  sensor,  good nite, pajamas.)  The first few nights were rough.  Waking up multiple times, having to change the underwear and clean the sensor with each awakening.  I’m not one for stripping a bed at 2 a.m. so that’s why we opted for the extra goodnite layer.  I feel for mothers of newborns everywhere. 

Fast forward a few nights and he was down to the alarm going off once a night and dealing with it himself – the bedwetting diminishing from a full soak to just a dribble and many mornings waking up dry.  Another week went by and we waved adios to the goodnites. 

Then the true test: would he wake up to pee during the night, wake up dry, or flood the bed again without any system (AKA cyborg gear) or backup protection.  We made it a week without any incidents at all.  We had a dribble incident one night after that initial week, but he woke himself up before it was a mess. We’ve made it another two weeks without any accidents or minimal wakeups.  Success!

I’m raving about this product.  Pricey, yes…. but so worth it for a solution that worked effectively and gave him so much confidence, never mind the cost savings of the goodnites. (A box of 44 cost approx. $24.  We paid approx. $90 for our system.  I figure that’s about 5.5 months of goodnites we would have paid for… and no extra bedtime expenses ever again!  In July we can call it even.)  I’m so happy to see him proud of himself and lose that embarrassment that seemed to hit him hard Every. Single. Bedtime. And. Every. Single.  Morning. 

I’m the mother of a reformed bedwetter… and I feel like I probably wouldn’t be saying that for years if we hadn’t given this system a try.  Goodbye goodnites.  We’re glad to see you go!