The Mama
Hi! I’m Amy Henry, the voice behind Whole Mama, although, if you ask my kids, they’ll tell you I can be a one-half, one-fourth, or even a one-twentieth Mama, depending on the time of day or particular phase of the moon. Like every mom out there I wear a number of hats, from cookie baker to drill instructor to dog chaser to crumb picker upper. My real passion, though, is for words, both written and read, which has not only put me in reading glasses at the tender age of forty, but has (arguably) kept me sane in the midst of raising my six children.
When not holed up in the bathroom hiding from my kids, I’m working as freelance writer and unpaid cook.
Welcome!
Hey!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I LOVE YOUR BLOG MORE THAN I CAN EXPRESS ONLINE OR IN WORDS OR
ON PAPER!!!!!!!!!!!!!IT IS SO FUNNY AND HELPFUL and totally beyond saying AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
YOU SHOULD DEFINITELY BE A FAMOUS WRITER!!!!!!
And my writing totally stinks like neither I nor anybody should say the deffinition of…….LIKE BEYOND STINKERLAND!!!
So you can tell I extremely and totally regally illegally completely wonderfully no-turning-back LOVE YOUR
BLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You are my heroine, my person that i turn to
when I’m hurt, and you’re completely totally
FAMOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And I’m really happy that you are:):)
I surely will. Thank you for the encouragement…kindred one:)
Dear Amy,What a fantastic article in the WSJ. I read it out loud to my husband and 14 yr. old son. I was stunned as you weaved together all my favorite readings and people: WSJ, history, Martin Luther(I have read”‘Bondage of the Will”), Shorter Catechism, and C.S. Lewis. And just this afternoon I was thinking how different the WSJ is from most other publications by having such thoughtful articles such as yours. Then I read where you have written for World Magazine- only my favorite magazine. You are a kindred spirit. As you are a mother of 6, please look at my we site mynight2cook.com. I have been involved in cooking co-op for 22 years and I am passionate that many problems of the world could be solved if families regularly sat down for dinnertime. Hope you have a minute to read a few of my chats with Ginny where I blend in history and current events to encourage families to sit down and celebrate the day over dinner- no matter what time.As the mother of a 14 yr. old son, we are seeing how schools are biased against boys. Our son was just inducted in Beta Club- 5 leadership [positions- 1 boy, 4 girls. I went up to another mom of a boy and said I did not realize boys were minorities. Not good.
+1
Thanks for the WSJ article. Rest assured that you are not alone in your sentiments, and be advised that there are regions of the country, and American subcultures, which remain unabashed about honoring motherhood and large families.
The most prominent would be evangelical Christians. The average family size appears to be three or more children, and many of the moms stay at home raising their own children; some, too, serving as homeschool teachers. We live in Northern San Diego County where there is a large percentage of Christians, all with “large” families. Among our “gang” of best friends, all five wives became homemakers with the birth of the second or third child, and each is very fulfilled as a full-time Mom. And they weren’t Stepford wives, either! Their careers prior to motherhood were accountant, musician, nonprofit fundraiser, etc. When we get together for barbecues there is 15-20 children and no helicopter mother hovering over a trophy child — can’t do that when there are 3 other siblings!
You might want to check out the writings of an author named Caitlin Flanagan. She has been writing about this topic for years and a couple of years ago she drove the left crazy when she said that the working mother movement, and the prosperity of professional, two-income families, was achieved only via the exploitation of lowly-paid Mexican and Central American women. Meaning, the left shouldn’t be celebrating, they should be ashamed of themselves. Meaning, if these professional women had paid a legal housekeeper a proper salary, they wouldn’t have been able to “have it all” — huge house in Scarsdale, ski vacations in Switzerland, Caribbean cruises, two beamers in the garage. Meaning, that the liberals who though feminism had come of age with their generation were no better than the capitalists of the 19th and 20th centuries who exploited cheap immigrant labor for their own material gain.
Gotta love any woman who can spell out the truth and get the liberals howling.
Yesterday’s momma
wasn’t no fool,
she worked at home
before it was cool,
showed us the way
to the techno-bash
with the first-ever laptop
that didn’t ever crash.
I wanted to let you know how thoroughly I enjoyed your WSJ article on the struggle mothers experience in their efforts to raise their children in a culture which is highly ambivalent about the role of motherhood. As a stay-at-home mom of twin toddlers and a former English major, I find great emotional satisfaction in being home with my girls, and great intellectual stimulation in appreciating the written word in fine publications such as the WSJ. And now I am excited to add your well-written blog to my list of items to read each day. Consuming others’ blogs and writing my own has given me a much-needed plug back into the intellectual world, but nothing makes me happier than raising my children in the fear of the Lord. Thank you for encouraging both pursuits!
Your article in the WSJ this morning brought tears to my eyes. I struggle every day with the notion of quitting my office job and working at home with my 18-month old daughter. But what will my friends and colleagues think!? How do I describe to them that working at home with your child can be much more challenging that dealing with a client. And no, I am not sitting at home eating bon bons? I feel the push/pull of balancing it all and still don’t know what is the right decision for me and my family. Thank you for shedding light on the issue that every mom deals with – admit it or not – and not making me feel guilty for contemplating putting my career on hold and working on my mothering skills. It feels good to know that I’m not alone. Great writing. Happy Mama’s Day.
Hi, Amy, a friend posted your wsj piece on facebook and i checked out your blog. We are sympatico! I often counter the quip,” you have SIX kids”, with “You know, every parent I know is going full bore with however many children they have, just doing their best. I find we moms are a lot more similar than we realize.”
Hope you post again soon and have a great holiday!
We met Friday evening at the Warren Theater and your son and daughter was so proud of you. Whatever you have done to make such impressive children – keep it up – I was impressed
Dear Amy,
What a fantastic article in the WSJ. I read it out loud to my husband and 14 yr. old son. I was stunned as you weaved together all my favorite readings and people: WSJ, history, Martin Luther(I have read”‘Bondage of the Will”), Shorter Catechism, and C.S. Lewis. And just this afternoon I was thinking how different the WSJ is from most other publications by having such thoughtful articles such as yours. Then I read where you have written for World Magazine- only my favorite magazine. You are a kindred spirit. As you are a mother of 6, please look at my we site mynight2cook.com. I have been involved in cooking co-op for 22 years and I am passionate that many problems of the world could be solved if families regularly sat down for dinnertime. Hope you have a minute to read a few of my chats with Ginny where I blend in history and current events to encourage families to sit down and celebrate the day over dinner- no matter what time.
As the mother of a 14 yr. old son, we are seeing how schools are biased against boys. Our son was just inducted in Beta Club- 5 leadership [positions- 1 boy, 4 girls. I went up to another mom of a boy and said I did not realize boys were minorities. Not good.
Many thanks for your thoughtful and well-crafted article,
Ginny Bowie
Hi Amy:
Please tell us you’re homeschooling your kids, and doing so at least partly for the purpose of helping provide manly men and inspirational mothers for the next generation.
And, thanks heaps for the Luther quote about a “God will supply” pietist waiting for “a fried chicken to fly into his mouth.” Priceless.
Thanks.
Dick Jones
Amy,
Thank you for your wonderful article in WSJ. I was blessed to read it and wholeheartedly agree. I also thoroughly enjoyed your fine article on the Tuohys and Michael Oher. Great piece of journalism in a great magazine. I am checking out your blog and like it so far.
Your “Idle Hands” article was great. We need more articles on the Puritans and their strong influence on our american work ethic. They also had a very strong influence on many of the men who wrote our Constitution, which seems to have been forgotten.
Great writing on the WSJ today. Thank you for that. – I particularly liked the point you made regarding a person’s worth coming more from their service to God and others than their titles and portfolios.
Dear Ms. Henry:
Never heard of you before, but read your “Idle Hands” article in today’s WSJ and loved it. I am on the sidelines for the first time in about 20 years, but I refuse to be like Steve Lee. Sometimes people can’t control what happens to their body and mind, but a lot of times they can. I get up early everyday, say a prayer, tell my loved ones that I love them, work out, do something nice for some random person I meet, and focus on the next opportunity that will provide income. In the movie A Bronx Tale, Sonny, the local mob boss says, “the biggest sin in the world is wasted talent.” I don’t plan on wasting the gifts given to me.
Three cheers for you and the Puritans.
Hope you enjoy a peaceful Thanksgiving.
Sincerely,
Ken D’Amato
I read your article in today’s edition of the WSJ.
I’ll share it with my study group, which is reading Ecclesiastes.
wonderful piece on the puritans
you related to Paul Henry, or Carl F. H. Henry?
Blessings,
Dick
Amy,
Nice article in the WSJ this morning.
Many people today see work as something to minimize and avoid; we’re seen to have ‘arrived’ if our station in life means no more work to do.
People also see work as a punishment from God, coming to us in Gn. 3. Yet in Gn. 2, God shows us that we’re put here for Him and will work while we’re with Him.
Just finished first draft of my book on the Parable of the Talents called Double or Nothing. You don’t see the second servant in the story bleeting about the fact that he wasn’t given the same as the first servant. Both of them ‘go at once’ and are blessed from God through their efforts.
Corporate site is http://www.PaulKingsman.com
Ministry site is http://www.SteadfastMinds.com
Have a great weekend.
-Paul
I thank you very much for your post in the WSJ. I needed that. I live in a rent controlled joint and they are trying to evict me because I won’t give them a document they should have asked for months ago. The “manager” has not stopped calling me and so I had to call the police to stop that lunatic.
Anyhoo, I really appreciate your line of thinking. It was very helpful and I hope your site works for you.
-Ken
Your “Idle Hands” article in today’s WSJ was magnificent!