Staying Home: From Full-Time Professional to Full-Time Parent by Darcie Sanders, Martha M. Bullen

From the Publisher

Now in its sixth printing, this ground-breaking guide helps women through the emotional transition from working-world career to parent at home. Seasoned with plenty of practical advice, Staying Home covers at-home mothers' greatest concerns, including:

• 11 crucial issues to consider when making your decision
• adjusting to changing relationships with your spouse, family and friends
• coping with the fear of isolation
• managing your loss of income and professional identity
• building your new self-image
• networking with other women
• creating flexible home-based work

About the Authors

Darcie Sanders and Martha M. Bullen are also the authors of a recent book on home-based businesses, Turn Your Talents into Profits. As recognized authorities on self-employment, at-home motherhood and family issues, the authors have appeared on Today, CBS This Morning, Montel, CNN, NPR, numerous other TV and radio talk shows, and have been featured in dozens of newspapers and magazines.

Parenting Magazine

By combining practical information with soothing wisdom, the authors help career women navigate the sometimes rocky road to full-time motherhood.

Publishers Weekly

According to freelance writer Sanders and Bullen, who serves with FEMALE, the national mothers's association, more and more of today's mothers are opting for full-time parenthood. Far from being unliberated drudges, the 600 women surveyed for this book are well-educated, enlightened professionals who want to do right by their children and have found that motherhood can be just as challenging as an outside career. Sanders and Bullen show readers what it takes to ``have it all but not all at once,'' including making the transition, letting go of outmoded ``happy housewife'' stereotypes and coping with the reactions of family, friends, co-workers and, of course, spouses. The authors write with realism, presenting the negative aspects of staying at home as well as its advantages. They provide a wealth of information on finding support groups, influencing public policy, and earning money while remaining at home; the book includes listings and short descriptions of relevant organizations, plus in-depth interviews with women who have successfully made the transition. A must for all mothers who are (or want to be) at home with their children. (Aug.)

Library Journal

Sanders, a college professor, and Bullen, director of FEMALE, a national organization for at-home mothers, surveyed 600 women who have taken sabbaticals from their careers to devote themselves to full-time mothering. Drawing on the information gathered, the authors offer suggestions for coping with reduced income, changing relationships, and altered self-image. They also explore home-based employment. An extensive bibliography enhances this readable manual. A worthwhile purchase for public libraries not owning Christine Davidson's Staying Home Instead (Lexington, 1986) or Arlene Rossen Cardozo's Sequencing ( LJ 11/1/86), which are similar in scope.--Florence Scarinci, Nassau Community Coll. Lib., Garden City, N.Y.

What People Are Saying

Arlene Rossen Cardozo
An important book which should be read by every woman considering motherhood. It may change the course of the history of her life and the life of her family. -- (Arlene Rossen Cardozo, author of Sequencing)

Martha M. Bullen

From the Author:

To stay at home or not to stay at home--that is the question tormenting many parents these days. While my coauthor Darcie Sanders and I wouldn't presume to answer that question for our readers, we wanted to take a look at the realities of at-home motherhood and help women through the often difficult transition from the workforce to the home.

So we surveyed 300 at-home moms across the country to find out why they had chosen to stay home, what were the hardest and easiest parts of the transition, and what wisdom they could pass on to other moms. We received hundreds of heartfelt replies (some with peanut butter and jelly stains on them) and knew we had exactly what we needed for our book. The final result was Staying Home: From Full-Time Professional to Full-Time Parent.

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