Hands Free Mama: A Guide to Putting Down the Phone, Burning the To-Do List, and Letting Go of Perfection to Grasp What Really Matters!

I love Rachel and have followed her blog and Facebook for quite some time. I have 3 children under 4 (nearly 4, nearly 2, and newborn) and I stay home with them but work from home and am a full-time online student. I'm in my 20's so Facebook, Instagram, and other social media things and texting, etc are just something I've learned to do. Also being an online student and virtual assistant working from home - my computer or phone is often near. I have had a problem since having children with feeling guilty for always feeling busy, always having way too much on my to-do list, always feeling connected to my phone - much like Rachel lists as problems. This book and her blog have had me in tears from time to time because I wrestle with guilt and struggle with balance between family, work, school, and just being me. I decided upon receiving this book that I just needed to take the leap. I've assigned myself times I can be on a computer, doing school or work, I've been putting my phone down and am more hands-on with my kids, I'm still writing to-do lists in fear that I will forget and not do something, but I instead begin each day picking two of the most important things off the list and leaving the others for the next day. It alleviates my anxiety of feeling like there's tons to do and has given me strength to know there's still tomorrow to do the rest. It's been about a month now and I LOVE it... I've not felt this sense of freedom since I first got married 8 years ago. Now is this all due to this book and Rachel? Of course not because you have to want to do something like this (especially when so much of your life relies on electronics), but I can say having this book and reading her stuff makes me feel less alone and more empowered to do it. It reminded me of what was important which is my children and keeps me reminded that other things can always wait. I'm still a work in progress, but this definitely helps.

Hands Free Mama is for parents who can’t seem to get enough kid time because of the relentless distractions from all the screens and undone tasks surrounding them. It is for busy parents who continually say to their kids things like “Hurry up!” and “Give me a minute.” This is the book for 2014 parents, the first year in history when every parent and child has a computer, a smartphone, a tablet, a TV, and a host of other screens telling them what to do. We are all bombarded with messages from people who want something via email, social media, telephone, text message, and more. We are distracted by the siren calls of the world, and as a result we are disconnected from each other. Rachel Stafford is the voice of this generation of parents living the digital family lifestyle. Her message is simple. Be the kind of parent who can regularly disconnect from mobile devices and to-do lists in order to connect with your child. As for the style of the book, I would describe it as a combination of personal anecdotes and reflective writing about her conversion from tiger mom to tender mom. She does not slap you in the face and shame you. Instead, she humbly confesses her past failures and brings you into her current lifestyle transformation. She writes from the heart, and her fans adore her vulnerability and her clarity of message. The Hand Free Mama blog is a huge success because she gets in her readers’ hearts and stirs things up that need stirring. Stafford’s target audience is mothers, but fathers, teachers, and grandparents will easily translate her message. As a father, I am moved to make some changes in the year ahead to be a more hands free dad. I have no doubt that this book will make an impact on families this year.

This is a classic. Rachel's soul is so beautiful. I am ever grateful to her for giving me so much more happiness in my life! Thank you, Rachel! You are amazing. Thank you for what you have given me and my family! I bought extra copies for family. I think I will continue to do so until I have flooded my friends and family with this book. This is a life-changing book. Don't be afraid of it. It will make you happier than you have ever been, or at least happier than you are now, I promise (If you do what it says, that is). I read it a bit at a time. I think it has taken me a year to read it because I am ADD and I am at every moment always in the middle of 50 books. It is best that I read it that way, because I took to heart each challenge and took each challenge one at a time, to ponder it. I still have a long way to go. On about February 1st, 2016, I quit facebook. I quit cold turkey and gave 50 groups I had created, the opportunity to take over and admin my groups. I did not need facebook anymore. I am still surviving without it. Quitting facebook really helped me and my family a lot. I was so addicted to it. Now I am into gardening and my kids. Now I give more time to phone conversations with my parents and siblings. Now I converse more with my husband. This is a better way to live for sure!

This is a great book for anyone who's feeling overly connected but not sure how to do anything differently. She offers weekly suggestions and it is loosely broken down into 1 year's worth of small changes that add up to big time real connectivity. I wouldn't give this as a gift without knowing that it was wanted, but I originally borrowed it from the library and then needed to buy it so I could reference it often.

I read 2 different blog posts by Rachel Stafford and instantly identified with her. I pre-ordered her book and eagerly awaited its arrival. I've turned off the phone and put away the distractions to connect with my children, after reading my first night. I was able to feel connected and present with my boys in a way that I haven't experienced. After choosing my children after school yesterday rather than the to do list or other distractions, my 3 year old held my cheeks with both of his hands, looked deep into my eyes and said, "I love you, Mommy!" He then kissed me on the lips. A six year old son that has never been physically affectionate with me, snuggled up on the couch while I read to him for an hour. The best books are the ones that inspire change and impact your life. This is one of the best books I have ever read, and can not wait to see the results in my life as I enact more principles from the book.

I read this book over the course of a year. It contained a lot of emotionally appealing insight and stories so taking it bit by bit helped. Because I am in the same stage as Rachel (my kids are younger), I found it easy to connect to her chapters. Even though I look forward to my children's adolescence, I often wondered how I could do more as a mother to focus more on what's important now and gain some understanding of the whys. I wanted to know how I could be a better example to my children on handling technology and rather than allowing it dominate my life but accenting it instead. I have since purposefully and happily set new boundaries for my own use of technology and have encouraged my spouse to do the same. I have lived moments that I would have missed beforehand and started to gain a new purpose with my parenting.

I love Rachel's blog/facebook posts. The blog posts tend to be a little long and I have to admit, it takes me a few sessions between caring for my kids and other household duties to read one in its entirety (ironic since she's so "hands free" and present with her kids and still manages to write something that long and so often, but I can't even read one straight through), but they are beautiful and usually worth the read with a lovely reminder. I was so excited she was coming out with a book, though I did question it since it seemed like she had just started her blog and I worried it would just be a compilation of her blog posts - which also would have been ok, honestly. But reading the book left me rolling my eyes more often than not with a "HA, yeah right..." when thinking about incorporating some of the philosophy into my own kid's lives. Maybe it was just too much sunshine and butterflies and perfect days rolled into one book, not allowing the parent to feel normal emotions or dealing with every day frustrations - when reading her blog posts, it was usually broken up into once a week or so and it seems more helpful. I think most of us who are looking to go hands free already understand that we're possibly lacking in a few ways as parents and truly want to make things better for ourselves and our families. Reading this can kinda make you feel like the worst parent in the world for not doing these things. Sensitive response, maybe, but I'm a realist. Every day isn't going to be perfectly lovely and this book seems to ignore that or if you aren't having a perfectly lovely day, then you must be doing something wrong because you should be able to find something perfectly lovely about that day. I know, we SHOULD try to find that perfectly lovely something every day, but it's also very ok acknowledge all the situations and emotions that might not be peachy every day too. We can't ignore the "bad" stuff every day, that's not living, that's pretending. Her blog seems more realistic in nature than her book. While her posts do tend to get repetitive (understandable since how many ways can you say "enjoy the moment"?), the book was a bit excessive. I was hoping more for a guide, not something more like her blog. Which is great, I love her blog, she tells incredible stories and is a great writer. But I wanted a guide and there wasn't really much in the book that I wasn't already doing. Maybe I'm not as addicted to devices as others? Another thing that rubbed me the wrong way was she mentions is her religious belief as the basis of all of this and instead of using an "i feel/believe" phrasing, it was more of a "God is" and that's that type of phrasing which can leave those with other beliefs feeling a bit judged if that's not what we believe. I've never seen her mention religion in her blog and this is why it surprised and slightly disappointed me. I understand everyone has a right to write a book based on their beliefs and I am very supportive and embracing of all beliefs, but like I said, I wasn't aware that would be in this book as she had given no hint of this in her blog posts (on facebook) so it caught me off guard. Maybe this would be a good book for those that do not already read her blog or for those that are so truly addicted to their devices - therefore these stories may just snap you offline. I would recommend this to those people. The stories can be really lovely reminders, but maybe not all in one sitting/book. But I wouldn't recommend this to those that already read the blog or already like her on facebook.

I looked at this book on Amazon for months before I finally purchased it. I'm the type of (anal)ytic person who reads all the negative reviews on something to make my purchasing decisions. I love Rachel's blog, but I wasn't sure the book was for me. It sounded like it was more about getting your nose out of technology, and what I really wanted was something that would make me a better mother. I finally got an opportunity to buy the Kindle version at a reduced price, so I jumped on it, figuring the loss would be less if I didn't like it.... Boy do I wish I hadn't waited!! I'm only halfway through the book, but I couldn't wait any longer to write a review. Something miraculous happens when I read this book - I actually become a better mother. Not a perfect mother, but a BETTER mother. I stop rushing my kids. I notice their perfect faces and hands more. I recognize Sunset Moments. My Type A personality lets up, and I stop criticizing, yelling, and being impatient. Not just with my kids, but with myself, too. I open my mouth to speak and instead hear Rachel's gentle voice, encouraging me to make a different choice before it's too late. I have two regrets: not buying it sooner, and not buying the paper version, because this is a book I want to dog-ear, underline, and have sitting on my coffee table all the time. Buy this book. If it makes you, even once, choose patience over hurriedness; grace over a sigh of frustration; love over criticism... it will be worth it.