Raising Up Mommy: A long over due book review

The seven deadly sins and Mommy. Yep, that's right, your mom's not perfect...and we have our moments. Heidi Hess Saxton's book, "Raising Up Mommy, Virtures for Difficult Mothering Moments." is insightful! The way she discusses mothering in such a revealing way, brings to mind how her book, Behold Your Mother, made our Lady so approachable, so real, almost ordinary. Motherhood in the real mechanics of life, whether she's the Queen of Heaven or the queen of the household, can and will get dirty. Many times we feel that there is nowhere to turn when we disappoint ourselves striving to love and nurture our families.

Raising Up Mommy is a guide in mothering that gets down to the nitty gritty of being human, yet doing beyond human things each day. As the human condition asserts itself, we find that we fall short of our own expectations. Some days more than others, but still mother must pick herself up by the bootstraps and keep loving, giving, and getting that laundry done! We suffer with the seven deadly sins, some without notice until finally we feel that something isn't right, or try and try as we may, our goals are still far beyond our reach.

Throughout the ten chapters, Heidi is committed to being practical in giving a resolve to many of our common vices, asking questions, leading the reader into being reflective. No accusations here, just pure "I feel your pain" antedotes. Each chapter covers one of the seven deadly sins, or Parent Trap, and it's Virtuous Antidote, a Bible verse, a self-test and ways to overcome these traps that mothers find themselves in. "Gird your loins with truth..." as Ephesians 6:14 says. "Through the sanctifying grace of baptism (CCC#1266), we have been given every spiritual resource we need in order to sly "Mommy Monster!", Heidi tells us.

Thank you, Heidi for this great resource for mothers everywhere!