If Mama Ain't Happy

Are you weary? Stressed? Depressed, anxious, and annoyed? And, to top it all off, do you feel guilty for feeling bad? Rachel Norman gets you, mama. She knows how much you love your kids. And how, day after day, you put your family’s needs first, which means your own needs come last. Or don’t come at all.

Rachel used to be a mom who spent her days weary, anxious, and guilt laden. She had five kids in five years, lived on three different continents, and then was blindsided by a devastating health diagnosis. Neglecting her own physical, spiritual, mental, and emotional needs for so long―in an effort to be a selfless mother―had left her utterly depleted. And physically unwell. Then she began asking a question she’d never considered before: Could it be that taking good care of myself is not actually selfish, but maybe, just maybe, something a responsible adult does? In this countercultural book, Rachel takes some weight off your shoulders by offering hands-on, rubber-meets-the-road strategies to cultivate a life you aren’t trying to constantly escape teaching you to discover and claim your own limits and boundaries so you can be a calm, resilient, peaceful mother showing you how to shape your daily life and values around the few things that really matter, and how to let the rest go

If mama ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy. But when mama is at peace? Everyone benefits.

1. Opening Credits
2. Dedication
3. A Letter
4. Chapter 1: Happy-Go-Lucky . . . or Not
5. Chapter 2: Sending the Wrong Message
6. Chapter 3: Hard Stop: Limits, Boundaries, and Preferences
7. Chapter 4: Transforming Losing Situations into Win-Win Solutions
8. Chapter 5: Minding Your Own Rules
9. Chapter 6: Minding Your Own Standards
10. Chapter 7: Minding Your Own Friends
11. Chapter 8: Minding Your Own Emotions
12. Chapter 9: Minding Your Own Daily Care
13. Chapter 10: Minding Your Own Responsibilities
14. Chapter 11: Minding Your Own Home
15. Chapter 12: Minding Your Own Life
16. Chapter 13: Your True North
17. Closing Credits