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Stepping on Cheerios: Book Review

 Stepping on Cheerios is the perfect combination of gut-level honesty, humor, and reminders to see God in the chaos and clutter of life. Book review
I recently had the opportunity to review the book Stepping on Cheerios: Finding God in the Chaos and Clutter of Life. Reading this book by author, Betsy Singleton Snyder, is like sitting down with a close girlfriend and getting gut-honest about motherhood.
Betsy is the mother of four boys. If that doesn’t get her a respect medal, three of the four boys are triplets! Betsy always wanted to be a mom but was both immeasurably blessed and surprised by motherhood. She shares stories of her own experiences and struggles and I found myself right at home in her stories. Here are:

Four Reasons I loved Stepping on Cheerios

 1. I could relate to her stories

Whether it was stepping on Legos, the challenges of shopping with “littles”, or being okay with a messy house, Betsy covers so many experiences that I, too, have encountered or have no doubt I will experience as my kids age. When I sit down with my friends and we swap stories of our triumphs and parent fails, there’s a sense of solidarity and “I’m not alone” that takes place. Betsy’s experiences, and her way with words,  oozes with solidarity.

2. She made me laugh

Humor in the written word is not easily accomplished. When you are across the table from someone, there’s voice inflection and facial expressions that all add to your response of: “This is funny.” The author has a way of bringing you into her circumstances immediately and her words caused me to laugh, yes often, out loud.
“Too bad there’s no fitbit to measure extreme mom endurance or how many daily calories we’re burning from sheer physical child management and it’s related stress.”
She also used the hashtag #bestmessiahever
I think I’d love to hang with this lady and her crazy crew.

3. She pointed me to Christ

Over and over her shared experiences have a Biblical implication. She says, “Parenting is not paint by numbers and neither is our faith and trust in God to walk with us when we are uncertain.”

 “We grown ups sometimes forget how much childhood matters. It’s filled with the sacred and the “not to be missed” when it comes again in parenthood. And parenthood is the inescapable time of spiritual formation in which we don’t realize until much later that everything kid drenched around us is a gift.”

4. Stepping on Cheerios challenged my motherhood

As she reminisces on all the help she received with her babies, she says, “Looking back I had the kind of experience most women used to have when they gave birth at home. Other women living nearby came in to help the new mother in the week’s after, aiding her to be able to return to her normal activities. Back then, one of the main tasks women offered to the neighbor who’d given birth was to prepare and serve food. Today’s casseroles sent to new parents are the downsized version, the leftovers of a tradition that once brought people together, face to face.”
This paragraph especially resonated with me. I’ve been the one hoping for more help that never came. I’ve also been the one who could have offered more help but instead considered my act of the doorstep “food drop” enough. I’m going to change this. Moms need more than a text message, although that is encouraging; mothers need physical help and our presence as well.
 Stepping on Cheerios is the perfect combination of gut-level honesty, humor, and reminders to see God in the chaos and clutter of life. Book review

My Final Thoughts

Stepping on Cheerios was the perfect combination of gut-level honesty, humor, and reminders to see God in the chaos and clutter of life. Today alone, the chaos level seemed through the roof. The kids, however, were having a great time. Thanks to Betsy’s gentle and humorous reminders , I’m going to step over the cheerios and  the coloring books and the un-capped markers and  the sticky hands and faces and the manic tears. I’m going to enjoy my rowdy bunch and thank the Lord for the growth taking place in me and them. And maybe take a nap! This book is an easy read and definitely belongs in the Me Too! Community library. You can find it here! In addition you can check out more reviews of this fabulous book here!

Want more? You can check out all my book reviews here!

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Kindness is not weakness. Kindness is strength in Kindness is not weakness. Kindness is strength in action. 
Today we’ll walk for a friend we’ve never met but today he would have been 26. 
His life was snuffed out not because of anything he did. Rather, because his skin color was *wrong*. So today we walk because our skin color is *right*. And we just can’t take these lies any more. 
Because kindness can be shown  with words but it flexes its strength when it moves. When it stands up for others who are created equal but not treated equal. 
Today we walk with our brothers and sisters of color—beautiful color—who need to be heard. Need to be seen. 
Who need to walk/run/jog/laugh/smile/enter a room without fear that their life may be in danger. 
My children will learn that kindness is strength in action. And it starts today— with a walk.  #ahmaudarbery 
#runforahmaud #runforahmaudarbery
“Dom. Charlee. Come meet your baby brother, Devi “Dom. Charlee. Come meet your baby brother, Devin.” My 4 year old son and 18 month old daughter peered at the little red ball yawning and stretching in my arms. “Can I hold him mommy?” Dom held out his arms to hold his new little brother. 
Throughout the day, he came over to stare at his sleeping sibling; offering  hugs before rushing off to play. 
Charlee was equally smitten. With her own baby in her arms, she followed me wherever I went. When I changed the baby’s diaper, she changed her baby doll’s diaper. When I rocked Devin, she rocked her own bundle of joy. 
A family of five felt wonderful. Until—“Mommy, I don’t feel well.” Marshall took Dom to the Doctor. I put my fretting to good use while rocking the baby with Charlee by my side. “It’s pneumonia,” read the text. 
A few days later, Charlee began tugging at her ears. “Looks like an ear infection,” said the dr. “I’ll prescribe an antibiotic.” Worried about the baby, we began Operation Sibling Quarantine. Too late. 
Devin tested positive for RSV at two weeks old. 
Little did I know this was just a taste of what was ahead for our family. Dom would get sick. Two days later, Charlee would come down with a fever. Two days later, I wouldn’t feel so hot. The cycle continued—each family member generously taking his turn with a bout of sickness. “What are you doing?” Marshall asked. 
I stood facing our wall calendar. “I’m tracking who gets sick. Maybe it’s not as bad as it feels.” A month in, I stopped. It was as bad as it felt. 
The struggles extended into nap schedules, car seat arrangements, laundry, bathing, and clothing our family. “It’s our third baby! Shouldn’t we know what we are doing by now?!” At a MOPS meeting, seated across from a mom of three grown boys, I got my answer.
“It takes at least a year to find a new normal after having a baby. Every time.” She continued, “Every time a child is added into the picture, the entire family will need to get a handle on the changes that come with the new addition.” Oh.
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Want to read more? I’m looking for feedback from moms with more than one kid or preparing to have that second or third bundle of joy. 
PM me for details!!

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