Making a Family Home (Book Review)

When was the last time you tweeted? Checked your email? Mixed up a glass of instant hot-cocoa? (You know, the kind with all the fake marshmallows on top.)

If you're anything like me, the answer to all of them is probably "sometime in the last 10 minutes."

We live in a world of instant gratification. Stovetops can boil pots of water in 90 seconds. Our coffee is now "instant."

Do you ever long for the old days? The days when food was made from scratch, and knitting and sewing were ways to pass the time? I know I do. I can't tell you the number of times I've wished for simpler times.

So how, in today's culture of text messages, twitter, and information overload, can we support the values of a simpler time? And even more importantly, how can we pass on these values to a generation of Baby Einstein grads?

According to author Shannon Honeybloom, it all starts at home. In her new book Making a Family Home, she shows readers room-by-room how to cultivate an enriching shelter, one that encourages children to learn and imagine.

Inside Making a Family Home, readers will also learn:

• How to make your home warm and cozy
• How to support your child's development at home
• How to involve your children in homemaking - cooking, crafting, cleaning, and so on
• How to create routines that support difficult transitions (bedtime, mealtime, etc.)
• How to get more play and leisure use out of your yard
• How to create a community of support for your family life

My Review of Making a Family Home
When a rep from Phenix & Phenix contacted me and asked if I was interested in reviewing this book, I responded with a definite yes. I am one of those moms who longs for simpler times.

Yes, even though I love my blog, my email, my twitter, my facebook account.... (you get the drift), there are some days I wish I lived in simpler times. Times when the tv wasn't the babysitter, and kids used their imaginations to play games.

The book, Making a Family Home, is absolutely beautiful. The author, Shannon Honeybloom, takes stories from her personal life and shares how she made her own home a place of comfort, warmth, and intimacy for her family, and offers wonderful tips and advice on how we can do exactly the same.

The book is illustrated with photographs by Skip Hunt who has a remarkable talent for capturing images that help the book flow along beautifully. Between the words on the pages and the photos surrounding them, the entire book is a beautiful work of art.

While this book would make the perfect accent on any coffee table, I really feel it's one that everyone should read. If you're longing for simplicity, Shannon Honeybloom offers ways, room by room, on how you can actually achieve it. The tips don't cost a lot of money - in fact, in most cases you'll probably see your costs and expenses go down. I'd definitely call that another benefit.

But even more than all that, Making a Family Home guides you on a path to making your house a home. And isn't that what every mother wants?

Want to Try Making a Family Home for Yourself?
Making a Family Home is available for purchase from steinerbooks.org, amazon.com, as well as local bookstores and online booksellers.


Disclaimer: I was contacted by Phenix & Phenix literary publicists and asked to do a review on this book. I was sent a free copy of the book in order to get my honest an candid review. No other compensation was made, and the free book did not influence my thoughts or opinions.