Beyond One: Growing a Family and Getting a Life

by Jennifer Bingham Hull

Book Overview

A wise and humorous book addressing the concerns of parents who are making the leap from one child to two . . . or more

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1580051049
• ISBN13: 9781580051040
• Release Date: September 2004
• Publisher: Seal Press (CA)
• Length: 268 Pages
• Weight: 0.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.6" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

Honest Book

Jennifer Hull wrote a wonderfully honest book and for that I am thankful. She does have a nanny but no family near bye. As an attachment parenting mom I cringed while reading her account of the "cry it out" approach,felt sad at how much she leaves her children in the care of others, and was shocked at her weaning approach. That being said she was honest, a quality most mothering books lack. She admits to yelling and feeding her kids junk food and the Diet Coke part was such a brutally raw look at her way of thinking. Her story is inspiring not becuase I could agree with or empathize with her choices but becuase she put herself into the equation. She took care of herself and made it a priority. That is what is so different about this book; the mother is part of the mothering. She isn't preachy but is proud of some of her choices another quality I found refreshing. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who can read a memior and appreciate that a person has opened her honest self up for strangers to share and not judge her for what she has said. It is not a parenting book as much as a true story of a real mom with the underlying message being that kids are worth it and having more than one is great!

Great blend of optimism and realism

"Beyond One" was the best book I read on the subject of having more than one child. Hull is a smart, funny, insightful writer and her book gave me and my husband (who also read and enjoyed the book) lots to consider. Unlike some of the other reviewers, I found her thoughts on the challenges of shared parenting to be right on and I thought she had some good suggestions on making it work. Hull did a good job recounting personal, real-life situations of her life with two kids that were relevant and reassuring. I've recommended this book to several friends who found it worthwhile and thought provoking. Hull strikes the right balance between realism (parenting is sometimes tough) and optimism (but there are many rewards along the way). I look forward to Hull's next book.

Such a wonderful book

This father of two thought this book was great. While it's easy to read and smart, the book is written for my wife. Still, reading the book, I developed a deeper appreciation for the things my wife experienced after having our second child --and that insight is worth everything. At the same time, the chapters "The Sex Police" and "Dreaming of Divorce" proved to be illuminating. I would strongly recommend the book to parents planning on having a second child (post conception, to be safe) or who have already been so blessed. Jennifer Hull is worth reading.

I loved this book!

"Beyond One: Growing a Family Life and Getting a Life" was a terrific read, and that is saying a lot from a mother of two who has very little time to read anything, let alone a book. I found the book to be a witty and compassionate look at motherhood that left me feeling that I was not alone. Having a second child can seem so isolating at times that it is a real comfort to realize that there are others in your same situation who feel the same love and frustrations towards their children. Not only do I highly recommend this book, I anxiously await the next book Ms. Hull writes!

A virtual tour of how life changes with the second child

Makes you feel like you are there.... As a mother contemplating a second baby, I really liked this book because it specifically describes the issues a new addition presents and you can see yourself in the situations described, and figure out how you would feel and how you would handle it. While most parenting advice books tell you what to do, sort of generically, Hull's narrative approach allows you to prepare for having a second by sharing her family's experience and comparing what you might do to what the author did. By focusing on how a second child affects mom, rather then just the firstborn, the author also covers a lot of territory that the parenting guides miss. Sometimes in life what you need is help with identifying the questions, so you can figure out the answers for yourself. Reading Beyond One is like having dinner with a girlfriend whose kids are older than yours. You get an intimate view of what might lie ahead from her stories, some good tips and best of all, a chance to think things out for yourself. Easy/ fast and fun to read because you want to know what happened next, and the vignettes are told with humor (very good for us sometimes-overwhelmed first-time parents).