Books, Mommy Advice

Reading Thursday – Parenting Books

In my quest to “get prepared” for this whole having two kids thing, I’ve turned to my long loved past time of reading up on a subject.  I’ve found some great parenting books recently that I’ve been enjoying and wanted to A) remember these titles later in case I need them again and B) pass my recommendations on in case you’re looking for some good parenting reads.

After enjoying Rachel’s Motherhood as a Mission Field blog post I thought that I might enjoy her book.  I was so correct in that assumption! This book was a really quick read (I read it one evening in about two hours) and had some great anecdotes on mothering and also some wonderful suggestions on how to be a better mother.  I’m looking forward to re-reading it once James arrives and really highlight and put into practice some of her ideas!

Some things that stuck out to me in the quick read that I did were (in my paraphrase of course):

– Removing the word “overwhelmed” from your vocabulary because this is just the new normal and being overwhelmed instead of just doing just makes (me at least) more overwhelmed!
– Making sure that your children understand that you have authority over your children because God has entrusted them to you and given you that authority, but that God has authority over you and your children.
– Fellowship with each other is the most important thing and if something or someone gets between that fellowship that they need to understand that nothing is worth breaking fellowship with each other even if that means removing whatever thing was breaking the fellowship.

In my panic thinking about going from one child to two I realized that I probably needed at least one book that focused on that transition.  I found this one on Amazon and after looking through the positive feedback I decided to get it.  I’m glad that I did because it validated that I’m not the only mother facing this transition that panics and it also gave me a lot of positive ways to prepare for the transition and make it as smooth as possible and also prepare for some of the negatives that could possibly accompany the transition.  While the book confirmed that we were already doing a lot of things to help C with the transition it suggested some ideas that I hadn’t thought of like showing C pictures of when she was born and in the hospital and maybe visiting the hospital before hand so that she can see what it’s like.  When we started talking about the hospital and showing Charlotte pictures from when she was born she ate up the idea and pictures and now asks at least once a day to “See pictures when ME (patting chest) born!” and is (hopefully) understanding some of the concept that Mommy will be in a hospital bed, etc.  This book isn’t a quick read like the first but I found it very beneficial and would definitely recommend it for those facing this same transition!
I’d like to say that we’re out of the potty training trenches but as I’m writing this (a few days before posting) we’re still working on it.  And while I don’t agree with everything John Rosemond says in this book I like his general premise on potty training.  And, so far, it’s been pretty successful for us in potty training Charlotte.  Not that we haven’t modified some, we have, but the general outline and guidelines work well for us!
I absolutely loved this book!  I bought it back when Charlotte was around 18 mo old and just got around to reading it and even though Charlotte isn’t demonstrating any terrible, horrible, absolutely no good traits right now I still found it so helpful to read and I feel like it’s made me a better parent even when Charlotte is behaving much less when she isn’t.  (Note: I haven’t read Parenting by the Book but have heard fantastic things about it.  It’s on my “To Read” list.  And, also, Rosemond is a very conservative parenting idealist which appeals to me but might not appeal to all.)
I took a lot of things from the book and thoroughly enjoyed it but one point that stuck out to me and helped me feel much better about parenting in general was this quote:
“You may not always make the very best decision you could possibly make, but you will surely make a better decision for your child than he would have made for himself.” (p. 11)
This is so true and has helped me quit second guessing my decisions and trusting Jason and myself with the decisions that we make.
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If you have any great parenting books that you love I’d love to hear about them! I’m always on the lookout for help!

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