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Darla Shine

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Happy Housewives: I Was a Whining, Miserable, Desperate Housewife--But I Finally Snapped Out of It...You Can, Too! Kindle Edition

by Darla Shine (Author) Format: Kindle Edition

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Says former desperate housewife Darla Shine to stay-at-home moms everywhere: What have you got to complain about? A modern-day guide to keeping house, raising kids, and loving life.

Darla Shine was once a desperate housewife. Being at home with two small children and a husband who was rarely home was enough to drive her crazy. She left her high-profile job as a television producer after her son was born, while her husband continued to move up the corporate ladder. Like many of her stay-at-home-mom friends, Shine employed a housekeeper and baby-sitters so she could spend her time running to the salon, the club, and out to lunch. Then one day she was whining to her mother about how terrible her life was, and her mother yelled at her to wake up and stop being so selfish. It was just the wakeup call she needed!

The desperate housewife craze of today is sending the wrong message to women and their children everywhere, says Shine. When did being a good mom and being proud to stay home with the kids go out of style? When did it become acceptable to cheat on your husband? When did mothers start dressing like their teenage daughters? Shine finds the standards of today's desperate housewives astonishingly low, and she has set out to teach women how they can be good mothers, look good, and feel good about the choices they make. Being a housewife does not mean you are on house arrest or can't be satisfied in your marriage. So step up, realize that you want to be home with your children, and embrace your life.

Print length

273 pages
Language

English
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On Kindle Scribe
Publisher

HarperCollins e-books
Publication date

October 13, 2009
File size

375 KB
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Darla Shine was a television producer who left the business to stay home with her children. She worked on several networks, including PBS and NewsTalk Television, one of the first twenty-four-hour cable news networks. Darla's podcast can be heard at www.darlashine.com. She lives with her husband and two children on Long Island, New York.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B000UODXO6
Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins e-books (October 13, 2009)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 13, 2009
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 375 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 273 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #1,955,945 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #2,276 in Motherhood (Kindle Store)
- #3,269 in Parenting Girls
- #3,635 in Christian Families

Customer Reviews:
186

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4 out of 5

186 global ratings

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S. Patel

Fabulous Must Read For All Stay At Home Moms & Wives

Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2009

Verified Purchase

I love this book. I've read it dozens of times and I keep reading it whenever I need a boost. I love the message Darla sends to all Stay At Home Moms "Learn to be a Happy Housewife, rather than a desperate one."

Through her great book Darla shows that being a housewife isn't a derogatory term. I love her blunt straight-forward no nonsense way of writing. I almost felt as if she was sitting across the kitchen table and chatting with me.

This book is bound to tread on the toes of the feminists out there. Darla doesn't mince words. She feels that a mom's place is in the home raising her kids rather than working her butt off to pay for luxuries. And she says that the job of raising children is the most important job there is (Amen to that!)

The book is filled with great old-fashioned advice for being a better mother and wife (advice that many modern moms would do well to heed)

She also has great advice on maintaining a clean, organized home, decorating and some really yummy (and healthy) recipes. I followed Darla's idea of juicing and I haven't had so much energy in years.

And of course she reminds moms to take care of themselves and to appreciate just how lucky they are.

Here are two quotes from this fabulous book that I would like to share with you.
"Instead of popping drugs, cheating on your husband, or hiding in the office all day, go home, embrace motherhood, hold onto your babies, raise your kids yourself, nurture your marriage, and build a safe, beautiful home for your family. It's a lot of work, but it's the most rewarding thing you'll ever do."

"It's a shame that society has put such a terrible burden on women - this ridiculous notion that we can work full time, raise a happy family, keep a happy home, and not lose our sanity in the process."

4 people found this helpful

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mom of teens

I wanted inspiration

Reviewed in the United States on November 3, 2014

Verified Purchase

I was not looking for a "how to" book, but simply inspiration to continue on my motherhood journey and finish my race with dignity. This book mostly delivered this for me. I was a bit skeptical to purchase this book after reading the lowest reviews, which stated the author was snarky. I've read enough of those books and I was not interested in another. I have a special needs child which I care for full time and two other "typical" teenagers; I really can't stomach a condescending tone. I don't believe the author exuded this, but instead had a tremendous amount of humility and compassion.

I gave such a high rating because her candor was refreshing and inspiring when discussing how we women need to get our acts together. Discussing our attitudes as the biggest deterrent to becoming happy housewives was much needed for me and very wise counsel.

I did not give five stars because I don't buy into the organic food movement, though cooking all food at home I find very important. I also disagreed with some of the celebrities she endorsed as I see them as part of the problem with our culture and not the solution.

One person found this helpful

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J. Hooper

It is about time.

Reviewed in the United States on June 13, 2006

Verified Purchase

I am an avid reader, but I have never bothered to write a book review for Amazon until now. I love this book. If you are a stay at home mom, you should definitely consider purchasing it. If you are not a SAHM, do us a favor, don't bother writing a scathing review. This book, as Darla Shine clearly states, is not for you. There are plenty of working mom books out there. We deserve to have a book that supports us, just as much as you do.

That said, this is a great book ladies! It is so supportive, down to earth, funny, and instead of being PC, its honest! How's that for a change. The whole time I was reading it, I was thinking one of three things: "I really do need to do this", "Thank you" or most often, "It is about time someone came out and said these things in the public sphere". Alot of SAHM books that I have read have been boring, or really not very supportive at all. Everyone is scared to come off as unprogressive or politically incorrect so they side step giving any real support. God forbid we tell SAHMs that they are doing a great thing and that their families will benefit tremendously. God forbid we actually say that being a SAHM is just as hard and just as valid as being a working mother.

If you are a SAHM, even if your not desperate (I wasn't), buy it anyway. Hey, if nothing else, buy it for the kudos, you deserve them.

6 people found this helpful

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Bea

Ugh...

Reviewed in Canada on September 10, 2015

Verified Purchase

Too short, poorly written and assumes that every housewife is rich. I am affluent but I know that isn't the case for everyone.

Andy&Anthy

My copy is blue, and it's a keeper

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 24, 2014

Verified Purchase

What a great, positive read. With so much slagging off and snide commentary on housewives, it's great to see a lively and entertaining guide. It's full of practical tips, too. BTW, I am Anthea. We have a joint Amazon account. (aah!)

One person found this helpful

grainne

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 10, 2017

Verified Purchase

thoroughly enjoyed

A. Dawud

I wish I could give this book more...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 11, 2008

Verified Purchase

I'm not a parent however I work from home and thus often step into the 'housewife' role as I literally always at home.
I bought this book to prepare myself for married life-that was my first mistake.
The book leans heavily on the old fashioned concept of mummy should be at home and daddy should be out working. How in this day and age is that really practical? For Darla her husband is still earning a big pay packet however not many people are in that position. Darla in a way was forced to 'quit' her high powered job or else to be honest I cannot see many women in a similar situation giving up such a career.

The concept that one should not talk to our partners about problems we are having with say family and friends and we should really avoid 'complaining' in front of them as they don't want to hear it shocked me. If you're having problems with say friends would you really want to tell other friends? No, didn't think so. I'm quite lucky that I can tell my partner anything and would never hide anything from his thinking he did not want to hear it. If he didn't want to hear it I'm sure he wouldn't have married me.

Moving onto always having a clean home. My friends have had babies and for the first few months it was bedlam-you could not expect a new mother to get up at 6am, clean the house, put a load of washing on, put her slap on and get breakfast ready for her husband. However Darlas book is somewhat unrealistic when it comes to this.

She also mentions the fact she has allowed her son to stay off school and watch films stating the odd day will not hurt his education. Isn't the school holidays to relax and spend time with your family?

Sex on demand-the whole approach of being able to 'cater' for your partners needs seems very 1950s. Is a women really suppose to feel in the mood just because her partner is in the mood? Agreed, a lot of women do let themselves go after having children HOWEVER most of the time it is not laziness (which is what Darla seems to imply) it is more insecurities.

Darla mentions the fact her mother was a stay at home mum. Apart from that reference I cannot see where Darla did her research. Being a SAHM for say 5 years would not give anyone the 'authority' or relevant experience to write a gritty book that got taken seriously.

The only thing I actually agree with in this book is her idea that you should form family traditions.

Avoid this book if you want something to motivate you and make you feel good. Buy it if you believe you're better than everyone else and what you say is basically gospel.

Darla lacks the flare someone like Brit Anthea Turner has. Anthea has a natural 'lets get on with it' attitude whereas Darla has the 'if you can't do this then you're a bad wife' attitude to her writing.

She may have been successful in her high powered job however I'm not sure if she has a big career ahead of her in this field.

2 people found this helpful

Anna Mason

Interesting to read, pretty judgemental

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 11, 2007

Verified Purchase

As a stay at home mum, it was nice to read a book that championed my cause. However, it's rather extreme. Shine spends a lot of time telling us to quit complaining and get it together. After having read half of the book I found out that her husband works for Fox News so that put me off taking some of her advice. It's not the must-have for all housewives that I was hoping for. In her defence, she does give some tips about how to arrange your home but all in all a simplistic approach and aimed at rich, spoiled wives. Also, she spends time putting down the show 'Desperate Housewives' but it seems like she hasn't seen the show properly.

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