Giveaway open to Canada and U.S.

Part of me didn’t want to like “The Naked Mom”. I knew Brooke Burke as the host of Dancing With the Stars, as well as a media mogul with a website – ModernMom – and a ridiculously high number of Twitter followers (1,775,785 as of this writing, though she is still uninterested in selling her tweets as some celebs do.)


Soon after cracking open her new book, I realized that despite the glamour and the fame, moms really do have a lot in common, whether we’re attempting to balance parenting with a classroom or a ballroom.

Some of my favourite points:

Brooke asserts that there is no such thing as “balance”, which I totally agree with (and have heard from several of my Momterview subjects). No parts of your life can get your attention equally, all the time, so don’t even try.

She makes no attempt to maintain an illusion of perfection. If she did, she wouldn’t use phrases like “setting out to stitch together a family from the tatters of my failed marriage” or “I’m convinced every Brady in the Bunch had to be smoking crack.” In fact, she speaks candidly about her first marriage and subsequent divorce, shared custody, and the effects on her family.

From “The Naked Mom”, I learned that performing on Dancing With The Stars is more physically and emotionally challenging than I ever would have thought. Sure, sure, no one is forcing these Stars to participate, and yes, they are getting paid, but the determination to push through challenge and pain is an important lesson, even if it is for the sake of entertainment. Brooke shares lots of behind-the-scenes stories and trials, both as a competitor and now as cohost of the show. (Though the woman’s instincts aren’t exactly bang on. When Dancing With The Stars was first in development, her response was “Hell, no, this will never work in America!” In case you live under a rock, DWTS is consistently the number one show in the U.S.)

DWTS Cohosts Brooke Burke and Tom Bergeron
I enjoyed the chapter on “Beauty, Deconstructed”, where Brooke takes the reader step-by-step through all of the people and products that get her to look the way we think she appears all the time. (“Does anyone have real hair or real boobs or real teeth anymore? Not on my patch of the planet, babe.”) Though unfortunately, she shies away from calling out any A-Listers, focusing only on her personal beauty regime. Style doesn’t always come at a huge cost, I was pleased to note, as Brooke was once overwhelmed by gushing compliments at a party over her $15.99 choker. Now that, I can afford.
There are some stories which are a bit hard to relate to. Most of the “inner b—h” moments Brooke shares are a little out of the league of us normal gals, as they deal with the paparazzi, a manicurist, and an airport while waiting to board a plane to London. My “inner b—h” comes out more often at the grocery store. (Though it is frustrating when the paparazzi trails me to my rural Catholic school every day. I’m sure you’ve seen those crazy shots in the tabloids.)

I also found it amusing that Brooke’s so-called diet “cheat” days sound pretty much like a regular day for me (a bagel WITH butter…a burger…AND a treat from Cinnabon! Wild!)

Despite a couple of these “yeah, we’re not really the same” anecdotes, there are other times when Brooke really does “bare all”, so to speak, like when she shares her worst mommy moment (forgetting her daughter in the car after running in to Starbucks and sitting down to enjoy a coffee with friends). You’ll have to read the book to see how horribly embarrassing the situation turned out to be. Don’t we all have one of “those” moments, the recollection of which still makes us cringe?

Brooke with her four (yes, FOUR!) children
Brooke’s kids are older than mine, and I did take away a few great parenting tips, such as the reassurance that you can’t be your child’s friend (Brooke came about this realization in therapy; now you know for much less than $150 an hour) and she also has a beautiful tradition of writing back and forth with one child in a special Mother-Daughter journal. When Frannie gets old enough, I think I’ll actually try that one.

She talks a lot about the importance of the connection between husband and wife, and goes so far as to share a fantasy that she and hubby David Charvet play out, where they are museum-goers admiring pictures at an exhibition. I found it such a coincidence, because my husband and I like to…just kidding. (If you seriously thought I was going to finish that sentence, you must be new here.)

David Charvet and Brooke Burke at the Los Angeles premiere of Terminator Salvation
David and Brooke
“The Naked Mom” is a warm and entertaining read, offering the behind-the-scenes-and-at-home-with-a-star details that many of us enjoy, as we get to know a mom who is both so totally unlike and exactly the same as “regular” moms like us.
Want to read it? I’m giving away a copy of Brooke Burke’s “The Naked Mom” to one lucky This Mom Loves reader. All you have to do is let me know you want to win! (Make sure to leave your email address, if it’s not on your profile. If I can’t contact you, you can’t win.)

For additional entries, leave a separate comment letting me know that:

  • You follow This Mom Loves publicly through Google Friend Connect
  • You subscribe to This Mom Loves through email
  • You follow @thismomloves on Twitter (I’m planning to catch up to Brooke by the time my blog changes to This Grandma Loves)
  • You follow @brookeburke on Twitter (she really needs your support!)

The contest will run until Sunday, June 5th at 11:59 p.m., after which time a winner will be chosen through random number generation. Good luck!

by | 49 Comments

49 comments on “What I Learned From Brooke Burke’s “The Naked Mom” – And a Giveaway!”

  23. thank you for following me through GFC I'm following you back.

    I would love a chance to win this book 😀

    Following you now on twitter and will follow brooke burke as soon as twitter stops acting like a spoiled child. My email is available through my profile page.

    Reply

  30. I love Brooke on DWTS and I really enjoyed reading your blog and I would love to win this book! If I don't win, I plan on reading it anyway! I love the idea of the Mother/Daughter journal idea! Brilliant!
    Krista S.

    Reply

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