Woman First, Family Always by Kathryn Sansone

Real-life wisdom from a mother of ten

I was intrigued by this subtitle, as I am the oldest of ten children, but was disappointed by the content.  I had hoped for more details on what it is actually like to have a large family, something that most of America knows nothing about.  Instead Kathryn Sansone (an Oprah protégée) gives general advice on how to be a happy person and mother in a general, fluffy, Oprahesque-style.  This is something that most of America knows plenty about, even if they don’t actually put it into practice.  So rather than spend much time on the book, I just gave it a thorough skimming.  Sansone insists that she is not a supermom, but comes off that way, nevertheless.  A few interesting tidbits I managed to glean:  She manages with lots of organization, and from what I can deduce, a lot of money.  She has not breastfed any of her kids, which is a big time-saver, for those of you who don’t know.  She had six c-sections, which is pretty impressive, but irritatingly told nothing about the sequence (like did she have any v-bacs after those c-sections, or did all the sections come last?).  She also said she recovered quickly.  She loves being pregnant.

To sum up, I admire the lady for having ten kids, and being happy about it.  I also am pleased for there to be enough acceptance of large families for the book to be published (I guess we can thank Oprah for that).  She’s gotta be a tough woman.  But writing a book is not her forte.  The same book could have been written (and has been) by a mother of three.  With such rich material and experience at her disposal, it is a shame that she did not draw upon it, instead settling back on a time-worn advice and platitude format.  Maybe I’ll get my mother to write a book!