Jennica Watson's Reviews > How to Keep House While Drowning

Ohhhhh this one got me. I tried and tried and tried some more to keep in mind she was in the trenches with PPD during pandemic lockdown when she wrote this, but I still can’t help but think, so I’ll just say it—have some respect for yourself and your family and take even the smallest granule of responsibility!

I don’t recall where I found this book but remember saving it to read now before I have my second baby thinking it may offer some tips to reorganizing the home life and daily chores while I’m on maternity leave with a baby and a toddler. But literally all this book did is make me laugh and realize I could do absolutely squat and still accomplish more than this woman without even trying. Her tips aren’t tips, they’re giving up on yourself and your family and then to go a step further, justifying to yourself that it’s completely okay to be a lazy bum. My personal favorite tip was during the dishwashing section when the author literally said “if the dishes surrounding the sink have been there for MORE THAN TWO WEEKS” I’m sorry, what?! What are you even cooking or eating on at this point if you haven’t so much as touched a plate in two weeks?! But let me finish…”if the dishes surrounding the sink have been there for two or more weeks, throw everything out and buy new but use paper plates in the meantime until you feel you can move back to real.” That’s realistic. Throw out all of your kitchen supplies and buy new, forget the cost because you don’t need to guilt yourself with money or dishes, you’re just trying to survive mama, you got this! Absolutely terrible advice. This woman is the friend you don’t need because when you vent to her, she will automatically tell you you’re in the right regardless if whether or not you are.

Every “tip” she had followed the above nonsensical pattern. Too lazy to fold your clean clothes? Don’t, have a massive clean clothes pile somewhere in your house where everyone digs for a wrinkly shirt when they need one. Cleaning the bathroom going to exert too much effort because you let it get so nasty? Don’t clean that one, clean the other one you just kind of cleaned last week because it’s barely dirty again so it’ll be quick and make you feel accomplished. WHAT?!

Like I said, my issue with this book is that she acknowledges she’s struggling but doesn’t take even the tiniest step toward actually bettering herself or her home or establishing a real routine to eventually get to a maintenance level. Everyone struggles sometimes and I’d have a tad more sympathy if she was grieving a family loss or something here, but she’s not. And again, I know the lockdown was hard for lots of people who felt isolated and like they were raising kids solo but she has a husband. And PPD is no joke either when you’re in the pit of it but it isn’t forever. And in fact, being able to feel like you accomplished one or two small tasks a day helps with PPD. So when her advice throughout this book is make a to-do list and don’t feel guilty if you don’t do a single thing on it today, or the next day, or next week, it’s fine. Well no, it’s not. You’ll never feel accomplished or worthy about anything if you follow that path. I’m seriously upset someone published this garbage and I definitely hope it’s not placed in the self-help section of any bookstore anywhere because it is the opposite of helpful or motivating. Girlfriend needs a therapist and a new outlook on life if this is how she’s been living since 2020. End rant.