The Mother in-Law’s Manual

Wow, thank you to all of you who have written such very nice things about THE MOTHER-IN-LAW’S MANUAL.  Most of the people I have heard from are people I know or have met when speaking, which is how they came to the book…but what they are saying goes so far beyond polite.

Thanks to the people I don’t know who have reviewed the book on their websites.  The ones I know about include:
*www.bloggernews.net,
*www.visualseen.net,*
*http://moomettesmagnificents.com/reviews
*http://iemommy.wordpress.com
*www.householdtreasuresblog.com
And thanks to the people who posted such great reviews on Amazon.

But thanks, as well, to the people who have emailed to say they disagreed with something I have written.  I value those opinions as much as praise, and I have responded to all of them and will respond to you if you want to chat about something in the book.

Here is what I am learning from what people are writing:  So very many of us struggle with how to make family life work.  We want it to work, and we often keep going back into the fray when it doesn’t; but we don’t like the conflict, the friction, the unhappiness.

We are quick to blame others because we KNOW our intentions are good – and usually they are.  But we are more likely to see our point of view as right and another’s as wrong rather than seeing just difference that grows out of our histories, our degree of emotional maturity and skillfulness, our past hurts and our present pains.  There seems to be words  and thoughts in this book that help people think through where they are and where they want to be with family members, whether or not they are mothers-in-law.  Honestly, that is more than I had hoped for when I wrote the book, but then doesn’t it make sense that if we can manage our role as mother-in-law, if we can figure out what that’s all about, it is probably useful in other family interactions.  I am so honored by the kind words, and so hopeful that now and then I can reduce the friction and conflict and increase the family happiness.