Book Preview: Have More Fun

I am on the "Street Team" for Mandy Arioto's new book called Have More Fun: How to be Remarkable, Get Unstuck and Start Enjoying Life. Which means I received an advanced copy of the book and need to tell all my friends about it!

Mandy Arioto is the CEO of MOPS International, which if you know me, you know how much I love MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and have been involved in the San Francisco group for over 4 years. That is how I came to "meet" Mandy. She blogged and wrote a lot of articles for MOPS and then last year she started a podcast called "Have More Fun." Which I listen to every few weeks. She asks all her guests two questions after the interview: 1) What is the best advice you never got? and 2) What is one way you are cultivating more fun in your life right now? I love it. And then my friend Beth and I went to MOMCON (MOPS Conference) in September where we actually got to hear Mandy speak and meet her in person!

I was super conscious of my height when I met her . . . she is much more petite than I had pictured. And in my effort to say something meaningful and rememberable I stuttered out, "Thank you for what you do. You make being a mom more fun." I walked away feeling totally lame . . . but you know what . . . In her book, Mandy confesses to feeling the exact same way (in a different circumstance) and deciding not to let it define her. 

"If I said something weird to you once when I was twenty, rest assured I spent every night for the next ten years thinking about it. . . This type of ridiculousness should not take up one moment of brain space, am I right?" Pg 116

So, I'm off the hook! No more brain space wasted on what I said to Mandy when I met her that one time. Whew!

Mandy is a great story-teller. She has such a great skill of weaving in stories from her own life, friend's lives and lives of people she has read about from long ago to drive her points home. And she is funny. Her writing is very much like her speaking style and most of the time I felt like I was just hearing her tell me the story over a cup of tea. And me interrupting with "Yep, me too!"

So what is "Have More Fun" really about? Well, just what it sounds like. She tells us how she rediscovered joy, creativity, imagination and fun. She tells us how we might relearn the same things. Being an adult is filled with serious matters, but there are also moments and people in our lives that we should actually be enjoying.

She has chapters that cover parenting, marriage, workspace, friendships, spirituality and even your body. I really the way she ended each chapter with a page of ideas of how you could have more fun in that specific area of life. For example, at the end of the parenting chapter she gives this tip:

"On the day you're already running late for school, go ahead and swing through a fast-food restaurant for pancakes." Pg 68

Now wouldn't that be more fun than huffing and puffing about how late you are and how upset that is making you . . . and wouldn't that be the best memory for your kid? A special breakfast with mom! I probably won't remember this when the time comes but I'm hoping I can stop feeling so upset about being late.

Have More Fun is a quick read filled with great stories and reminders of the things that really matter in life. Like "choose to enjoy your kids" . . . as a mom, I find it easy to get stuck in the mundane or worried about the little things that in the grand scheme of life don't really matter. Since reading the book, I have chosen to play trucks, go down the slide, and chase my kids around the park instead of be on my phone searching for a new rug or couch for our new home. I found Mandy's book really refreshing and full of really fun ideas.

If you'd like to get a copy, you can find it on Amazon!
Thanks for reading my review.

I am on the "Street Team" for Mandy Arioto's new book called Have More Fun: How to be Remarkable, Get Unstuck and Start Enjoying Life. Which means I received an advanced copy of the book and need to tell all my friends about it!

Mandy Arioto is the CEO of MOPS International, which if you know me, you know how much I love MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) and have been involved in the San Francisco group for over 4 years. That is how I came to "meet" Mandy. She blogged and wrote a lot of articles for MOPS and then last year she started a podcast called "Have More Fun." Which I listen to every few weeks. She asks all her guests two questions after the interview: 1) What is the best advice you never got? and 2) What is one way you are cultivating more fun in your life right now? I love it. And then my friend Beth and I went to MOMCON (MOPS Conference) in September where we actually got to hear Mandy speak and meet her in person!

I was super conscious of my height when I met her . . . she is much more petite than I had pictured. And in my effort to say something meaningful and rememberable I stuttered out, "Thank you for what you do. You make being a mom more fun." I walked away feeling totally lame . . . but you know what . . . In her book, Mandy confesses to feeling the exact same way (in a different circumstance) and deciding not to let it define her. 

"If I said something weird to you once when I was twenty, rest assured I spent every night for the next ten years thinking about it. . . This type of ridiculousness should not take up one moment of brain space, am I right?" Pg 116

So, I'm off the hook! No more brain space wasted on what I said to Mandy when I met her that one time. Whew!

Mandy is a great story-teller. She has such a great skill of weaving in stories from her own life, friend's lives and lives of people she has read about from long ago to drive her points home. And she is funny. Her writing is very much like her speaking style and most of the time I felt like I was just hearing her tell me the story over a cup of tea. And me interrupting with "Yep, me too!"

So what is "Have More Fun" really about? Well, just what it sounds like. She tells us how she rediscovered joy, creativity, imagination and fun. She tells us how we might relearn the same things. Being an adult is filled with serious matters, but there are also moments and people in our lives that we should actually be enjoying.

She has chapters that cover parenting, marriage, workspace, friendships, spirituality and even your body. I really the way she ended each chapter with a page of ideas of how you could have more fun in that specific area of life. For example, at the end of the parenting chapter she gives this tip:

"On the day you're already running late for school, go ahead and swing through a fast-food restaurant for pancakes." Pg 68

Now wouldn't that be more fun than huffing and puffing about how late you are and how upset that is making you . . . and wouldn't that be the best memory for your kid? A special breakfast with mom! I probably won't remember this when the time comes but I'm hoping I can stop feeling so upset about being late.

Have More Fun is a quick read filled with great stories and reminders of the things that really matter in life. Like "choose to enjoy your kids" . . . as a mom, I find it easy to get stuck in the mundane or worried about the little things that in the grand scheme of life don't really matter. Since reading the book, I have chosen to play trucks, go down the slide, and chase my kids around the park instead of be on my phone searching for a new rug or couch for our new home. I found Mandy's book really refreshing and full of really fun ideas.

If you'd like to get a copy, you can find it on Amazon!
Thanks for reading my review.