Life as a mother is a constant work in progress. You’ve probably figured this out already, but no one ever has all the answers. We are always searching, and sometimes the search can be very interesting…

Early this morning I was reading Deepak Chopra’s novel “Buddha.” Late last night, I was flipping through, “How to Talk So Teens Will Listen and Listen So Teens Will Talk.” Then I stopped for a minute to ponder the strange and wonderous intersection between these two incredibly different texts.

The Buddha book is about living with compassion and accepting and overcoming pain. It is, essentially, about rising above our physical selves and acknowledging that our day-to-day worries are minor in the face of the awesomeness of the universe.

Cool stuff. But what about paying the bills or getting the kids to school on time?

We struggle to deal with the burdens of our real lives (and whether they are small or large, everyone has burdens) by holding onto a sense that there is something larger at play, something that puts the little irritations or big burning desires into perspective.

When I think about these considerations in respect to the teens book I was just reading, it makes me laugh. The teen book is so enlightening and sensible in its own way, and so utterly the opposite of the Chopra novel. Put the two together and I think you have the essential quandary of the life of a parent: how to marry the concerns of the everyday with the perspective of an enlightened human!

Everyday reality is something us moms  cannot really transcend — we have to figure out the nuts and bolts of dealing with hormonal kids or exacting work demands or babies needing food. But if we can do it all with some humor, with an understanding that it’s ok to be doing the best we can (as opposed to being perfect), and that there are forces at work that are larger than us… well, then I think we’ll all be all right in the end.

Our book has printed–it was a very long but easy labor, and we now have a gorgeous baby book in our hands (actually, thousands and thousands of them… talk about multiple births!). No learning to walk for this little beast, though, she’s off to a running start.

Now that we have a beautiful new website (thanks Jen, Cruz and Jim, geniuses, all) we’ll be pounding the proverbial pavement again. Or, in plain English, the internet. So, stay tuned.

We couldn’t believe our ears and eyes when we saw Elizabeth Gilbert on Oprah recently.  She was talking about her mega-bestseller, Eat Pray Love. It’s about a year she spent trying to find herself. It takes the readers on her terrifying (and at times funny) journey from devastating depression and self doubt, to serenity and love.

Lots of people loved the book, but many find her selfish. Who wouldn’t want to take a whole year traveling the world so they can get back on track? Busy moms certainly don’t have a year. They barely have five minutes.

What we found so thrilling, though, was that ultimately she was exploring the same ideas we explore in Mothers Need Time-Outs, Too: how we can live full and complex lives that also feel authentic and balanced. Sure, her particular situation was different than that of most moms we talked to when doing our research, but the core of her findings was the same: not taking our needs seriously can be destructive.

First, busy moms like us need to give up on being perfectionists, and second, we need to take the time to do the hard work and find out what makes us tick.

We argue that the best way to find real happiness for you and your family is by first focusing on your own needs. Take time-outs for yourself, you’re worth it!