From Stardust

Stacey Sargent. 

Read January 7. 

One day. That's how long it took me to read From Stardust. Yesterday was my second time reading it, but it felt like the first time. The first time I read it, I stayed up until 1AM to finish it. (Great books must like to be finished at 1AM). 

Stacey does a wonderful job drawing the readers in and keeping them there. She gives you enough information that you think you're in the loop, but holds enough back to surprise you. She makes you feel for Scout, the main character, from the first page, and keeps the emotions flowing. The first tear slipped down my cheek during chapter ten, when Scout and her dad were talking about the day he met her mom. But if you think that means this is just a flimsy read for shark week, you're wrong. There were times (a lot of times) I held my breath. It is full of action and wonder. You'll forget it all takes place in a day. It also makes you think. It was written to use in a 7th grade classroom (innocence-also a plus) but has enough substance to keep the attention of adults as well. 

My favorite quote is :

           "You need you," Gil said, putting emphasis on the last word. "You are everything you need to be, and you'll be fine. You'll be great because...because you're you, and you're everything."

A beautiful story. One that I'll read again, and I recommend you do the same. 

From Stardust: An Elementum Novel by Stacey Sargent http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00O08L9BM/ref=cm_sw_r_udp_awd_oDRRub12E3K6Y

Keep Calm and Parent On

Emma Jenner. 

Read in December&January

I absolutely love Keep Calm and Parent On. 

There's a chapter on sleep. I don't agree with all of it, and I think that's ok. There's always take it and leave it in parenting/self help books for me. I understand where she's coming from, children need to cry sometimes just like adults. But I'm not comfortable letting my baby, who can't tell me with words yet how he's feeling, cry to sleep. Older kids, when you know that's just what they need, fine. Sometimes I just need to cry and get the extra tired out. There's a lot of other great helpful information in it though, even in that chapter actually. Especially on mothers judging other mothers. What I love most about any parenting book is that it gets me thinking and evaluating myself and keeps me mindful of my kids and that they need me. 

Those of you who read parenting books, why do you?

I feel like Carter (1) has a bit to go before some of this but it's definitely applicable to Aiden (3). Kids learning "no", applicable now. Me saying please instead of commanding, applicable now. Communicating the behavior I expect ahead of time, not applicable quite yet. Consequences, that's a little hard to enforce right now. They're easily distracted and likely won't remember a consequence. 

I feel a lot more comfortable with parenting when my child is talking more, communicating through sentences. I hate the guess work of the baby stage. I really liked the communication chapter. 

On encouraging independent play, rather than being available at all times, I could not agree more. It was especially helpful that Aiden could comfortably play by himself when I had Carter. The key was making sure he had quality time with me first. 

On overprotectiveness:

"Parents put so much pressure on themselves and try to control far too much."

"We don't need to stand guard over our children, but we do need to teach them, and then trust them."

This I wholeheartedly agree with, also. Kids are far more capable than we tend to think. We want to shelter them from all harm and we don't want to let them get into stuff for fear they could get hurt. 

I love these quotes on self-esteem: "building self-esteem should be about helping a kid feel ok when he's lost, not creating an illusion that he's won." "...give your child the encouragement and praise he needs to be himself, and the tools to handle the disappointments and hard knocks that will inevitably come his way."

I could go on and on. This is a great book. It has a lot of information and advice for common problem areas, all centering on your child being a person too. (Which I love.) I cannot recommend this book enough. It's awesome! 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1476739544/ref=redir_mdp_mobile?pc_redir=T1#