April 8, 2022
The Pursuit of Momminess:
How to Walk an Authentic Love Journey With Your Children
Linda Cross
Aviva (2022)
ISBN: 978-0-578-39249-3
New Book Teaches How to Be Authentic on Your Mom Journey
In her new book, The Pursuit of Momminess: How to Walk an Authentic Love Journey With Your Children, Linda Cross shares her stories about being a mother from raising babies and toddlers to having adult children. Her purpose in writing is to encourage other mothers on their journeys, including inspiring their children to pursue their dreams.
The book opens with a rather scary moment. Linda’s twenty-year-old daughter has gone out for a walk, and after it gets dark, she still hasn’t returned. Linda goes out looking for her, stating, “Never mind that she was now twenty! I am still, like many moms, passionately in pursuit of momminess, doing my best to do what’s right by my kiddos.” Fortunately, she finds her daughter safe and sound. But she realizes that being a mommy never ends.
Successive chapters cover various parts of the mom journey, but they are mostly theme-based and on diverse topics from feeling like you are just the tour guide for your children to maintaining a democracy in your family. Rather than offering a step-by-step, how-to guide to being a mom, Linda writes with the voice of a friend, gently guiding the reader along. She reminds them that however they choose to mommy, they are doing it right and they just need to keep doing it. They must trust in the journey and remember to enjoy it. Early in the book, Linda states:
“The beautiful thing about the pursuit of momminess is there are no steadfast rules to the journey. It’s your beautiful journey of a shared bond between you and your child. This journey becomes rich from the experiences colorfully derived from what you make of them.”
Linda goes on to talk about how there are no hard rules for being a mommy. Instead, the journey becomes rich because of the experiences you have with your children, experiences you can make into whatever you want. She encourages mothers to be confident in the decisions they make and to believe in their parenting skills. That confidence will make all the difference for them and for their children.
That’s not to say there won’t be plenty of difficult days or situations where you may mess up, but given how much you have to do and be for your children, that’s to be expected. Linda counsels giving yourself grace when things don’t go as planned. She really focuses on how important it is to give yourself that grace rather than beat yourself up. Plus, at every moment, you define the direction of your parenting journey, so it’s important to give yourself flexibility.
And when you mess up, it’s also okay to feel your emotions and ask for help. Being transparent, honest, and even vulnerable are all good things because you are then modeling them for your children.
As clichéd as it may sound, Linda proves that the journey is its own reward. She states about the pursuit of momminess:
“It’s about living for those big brown eyes to light up when you walk into the room. Then, later in life, watching their eyes light up and their smiles spread across their faces when they are doing what they are inspired to do in life! It’s about knowing that your pursuit of all things mommy had a little contribution to nurturing that joy.”
Ultimately, Linda says the most important thing we can do is to love our children. “We can love them into who they are meant to be.” Then the day will come when your kids say, “Mommy, I got this.” And they can say that because you taught them well.
The Pursuit of Momminess is a little book, but it has a big message that will have all mothers breathing a sigh of relief that someone else understands, and they will find in it fresh encouragement to continue their journey to be all things mommy.
For more information about Linda Cross and The Pursuit of Momminess, visit www.PursuitofMomminess.org.
— Tyler R. Tichelaar, PhD and award-winning author of Narrow Lives and The Best Place
