Parenting as working mums can often lead to feelings of guilt and stress due to the divided attention between work and family. There are several books that serve as a guide for working mums.
The key to a perfect balance between work life and your children is to invest in these parenting books. Most importantly, there is nothing as a perfect parent. Even the best working mums need advice now and then.
Check out the parenting books below that I have compiled, which cover everything from ‘baby-hood’ to the teenage-hood stage. Above all, these books have helped me at different points of my motherhood journey.
The Best Parenting Books to Read as a Working Mum
- The Pie Life: A Guilt-Free Recipe for Success and Satisfaction by Samantha Ettus
The Pie Life focuses on the guilt of working mothers not being able to be there for their children and spending time at work. This nonfiction features stories from successful women in all different career fields, who have found a way to do it all. Samantha Ettus aims to get working mums to live their best life as she includes tips for mums to overcome working mum guilt and balance work-life.
- Bossypants by Tina Fey
In her autobiography, Tina Fey shows the different sides to being a celebrity and a mother. Even after her success as a comedian, Fey often struggled to juggle being a parent, wife, and TV personality, which she included in the book.
- I Know How She Does It: How Successful Women Make the Most of Their Time by Laura Vanderkam
Laura Vanderkam does a brilliant job of collecting stories of women who quietly and successfully juggle all they need. Each story comes from the lives of everyday women who are successfully managing work and personal lives. The book aims to remove the stigma attached to women having it all. Also, the author emphasizes that they can have successful careers, family, children, happiness, and money. It provides a practical framework for mothers who wants to make the most of their time at work and at home.
- The Balance Project by Susie Orman Schnall
The balance project tells the story of Lucy, an assistant to a successful career woman, Katherine. Most importantly, this book shows the readers how to master a perfect work-life balance.
-
Balance Is a Crock; Sleep Is for the Weak: An Indispensable Guide to Surviving Working Motherhood by Amy Eschliman and Leigh Oshirak
This book is humorous take on working motherhood. In this book, the authors gives readers advice based on the experiences of hundreds of moms interviewed and surveyed. According to the publisher’s review, the book is a “wickedly, funny, girlfriend-to-girlfriend survival guide.”
- Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead by Sheryl Sandberg
In Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg explained she didn’t understand the life of a single mom until she became one. However, this is worth a read as Sandberg shares her advice on the negotiation, mentorship, taking risks, and aggressively pursuing your goals.
-
The Whole-Brain Child: 12 Revolutionary Strategies to Nurture Your Child’s Developing Mind by Daniel J. Siegel, MD, and Tina Payne Bryson, PhD
This parenting book by a parenting expert gives mothers the scientific approach to parenting by addressing the steps to foster healthy brain development.
Moreover, every single gem in the book is perfectly written for all working mothers to understand. Also, each chapter contains a practical and straightforward guide for mothers to train calmer, happier kids while tackling work struggles.
- The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are by Brene Brown
The need for perfection is perhaps the number one source of stress for most working mothers. For instance, we all want to be the best mum and thrive in our careers simultaneously. However, we have inadequate feelings of not doing enough. This is what Brene Brown talks about in her book. In conclusion, this book is a guide in accepting our imperfections as mothers. Also, this helps anxious working mothers who see imperfections due to the projected expectations of family and society.
Have you read any of these parenting books? What are your favorite books for working mums? Please share in the comment section below!