Time for a Parenting Check-In

Thanks to all that we're juggling -- work, meals, household chores, home improvements, upcoming trips, kid activities, playdate, etc. to infinity -- sometimes you just lose sight of your parenting goals and strategies. Am I right? Plus, you constantly have to adjust rules as they grow up. It's a lot.

For example, my focus on family meals started strong but has really dropped off lately. As has controlling the screen time the girls are getting during the day. (It's winter, we're all sick of being inside. Sure, watch another Nick Jr. show.)

So, a few weekends ago it seemed the right time to pull out my parenting books and remind myself of my own little parenting curriculum by realigning my goals and rules with the some of the advice I get from my current two go-to parenting books. The books in my repertoire have changed over the years, I once had tantrum books and "how to say no" to two-year-olds. Now, I'm currently hanging on to these two:

My Two Current Parenting Handbooks

Bebe Day by Day by Pamela Druckerman is basically Bringing Up Bebe with less memoir and more straight-up "do this!" advice. You can't tell from this picture, but there are purple tags highlighting favorite tips on how to get your kids to be more adventurous eaters and show better manners. The French mamas and I agree on raising independent kids, so I'm on-board with a lot of their standards -- as impossible as I sometimes find them to push.

The Whole-Brain Child by Daniel Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson is helpful for my drama queen. Emotions hit these little girls like tidal waves and events like not being the "first to shower" turn into end-of-the-world disasters. It's not about stopping these overreactions, but helping them deal with their Big Feelings. Because life is full of Big Feeling events they'll need to manage with and without me. And this book gives valuable advice on how to talk to kids in the midst of an Oscar-worthy breakdown.

I'm sure this library will change again in a few years as they continue to be more independent and need more guidance than straight-up parenting. For now, these will do. What do you read?



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