Book Review: The Busy Couple's Guide

America's Family Manager guru, Kathy Peel, has just published a brand new book titled "The Busy Couple's Guide to Sharing the Work and the Joy."

If you saw the Rachael Ray Segment with my husband and I, you saw that I do most of the home chores. So I decided to review this book for Tyndale Publishing because it'd give me a better understanding of what women go through who are sharing chores with their husbands.

The Bible clearly states that it is the woman's role to be the manager of her home. Titus 2 says women are to be "busy at home." I Timothy 5:14 says "So I counsel younger widows to marry, to have children, to manage their homes and to give the enemy no opportunity for slander." And the Proverbs 31 woman is clearly the picture of a woman who has accepted her assignment to manage her home with joy!

So as I opened this book, I wasn't sure if I would agree with the premise. I gladly accept help from my husband, but never expect or demand it. I thought wow - it takes 220 pages to figure out who's managing the chores? If I wrote a book with this title, it'd be one page - the wife does it! I know that some of my thinking is faulty when applied to a working woman though. I think that it is necessary for the husband to help a working mom and to my great pleasure this book had excellent information that was less about who does what and more about communication in marriage.

Peel gives excellent insight on the many many tasks that must be accomplished in order for a family to run smoothly including: deciding priorities, time management, housekeeping, managing clutter, meals, finances, family relationships, intimacy (this lady scheduled intimate moments into her week! I like a scheduled gal!) celebrations and holidays.

Peel's main goal of the book is to see marriages communicating openly about each task rather than arguing. Though nearly everything on the list is in my domain and not "shared", I realized that my husband and I have talked about every single item in the book and have decided our priorities in each area together. We work together to have a smooth running household. And it confirmed to me that our communication is strong even if we are not "sharing" all the duties. I found this book encouraging and filled with rich tidbits that I can apply as the manager of my household. So in the end, I give it a thumbs up! If you are struggling with communication over household tasks, I think this book is a beneficial read!

Walk with the King!

*Thank you Tyndale Publishing for providing this complimentary book for me to review!