Month: May 2015

Reidhead Randomness book review

From Reidhead Randomness:

In Keep in Real and Grab a Plunger, humor and wit abound as encouragement, stories and relate-able experiences are shared.  Many topics (and age groups) are covered:  family vacations, talking to teenagers, encouragement and praise, helping kids when they make mistakes, helping kids overcome fears, potty training, and MANY MORE!  The author gives you a very real glimpse into her day……I’m sure most moms could relate!

As a home school mom, I have a different set of challenges, but I have seen family and friends go through many of the challenges.  For example, I don’t have to worry about the frantic “Get-your-hair-fixed-NOW-so-you-don’t-miss-the-bus” scenario, or the “lemme-hurry-and-pack-a-lunch” one either, but….MOST of the book deals with the everyday challenges of being a mom.  This is a fun book for every parent!  It is filled with great advice and perspectives that are easy to implement!

by Mindy Reid

post found at: http://reidheadrandom-ness.blogspot.com/2015/05/review-keep-in-real-and-grab-plunger.html

Inklings and Notions book review May 13, 2015

My thoughts: I just had to review this book when I saw the title of it, since sometimes parenting can be about trying to survive (I don’t mean this in a bad way!).;) I love the practical information in this book that helps parents to connect with their kids and help instill good values. I like her ideas for making meal time fun and a chance to connect with your kids and spouse. I also appreciate her thoughts on raising kids in a technology savvy world, how to make sure that they don’t have an addiction to social media and teaching them the importance of having meaningful conversations and relationships.

This is an excellent resource for parents!

by Amanda Holmes

review can be found at:

http://amandanicolle.blogspot.com/2015/05/keep-it-real-and-grab-plunger.html

“I’m So Fifty” Gram’s Pick on the Month book review

First Line: I wake up at 7:00am and take a shower.

Great Passage: “A discouraged child languishes in the unclean room. If he or she finally cleans the seemingly insurmountable mess, a parent’s impulse is to remark, “You got it done. Good work.” That response acknowledges the clean room, but it does not validate the child’s valiant effort. An encouraging parent knows that the marathon of cleaning requires that he or she appear in the bedroom to cheer on the child from time to time.” (9)

What Others Are Saying:
“The book covers a range of concerns that basically all parents face, and offers some clear advice in an easy-to-read format, that I found helpful, informative, and encouraging as well.”—Utahtopia

“A couple things that stuck out to me were when she shared the quote, “Right is right, even if no one is doing it. Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it.” Amen, sister! Love that. And this quote I felt was basically the premise of her book. “In the long run, the only thing of lasting value you can give your child is your time and the memories of the time you shared together.”  —Literary Time Out

“Julie Nelson is a master at “keeping it real” as she gives sound advice amidst terrific stories of her own failures as well as successes as a parent. Her topics include the crucial importance of family rituals and teaching values while kids are young as well as how to stay positive amidst the chaos of raising a family, how to lift family members who make mistakes, and even how to successfully co-parent after divorce. Every parent can benefit from Julie’s extraordinary wisdom.”  —Richard and Linda Eyre

What I Thought: Since my mothering days are over, I’m always looking for ways to cheer on the mothers of my grandchildren. This book is the ticket. Instead of the usual guilt ridden prose of many parenting books, Nelson takes realistic view of the parenting role. She speaks with authenticity and from experience. A perfect gift for that mother that is in the trenches, day in and day out.
by Pam Torres
Review can be found at

4 Ways to Stop Singing the Post-Wedding Blues

My eldest daughter is getting married (crash the cymbals, shout from the rooftops)! My first engaged child and first wedding. I grew up with my husband in the same small town, so our courtship and marriage were a very easy and natural extension of my life and our relationship. Since 4 of my 5 kids are in a marriageable stage of life, I’m realizing it’s not so easy for everyone, and has become a harder proposition for young adults these days. Now that my daughter has found a spectacular man and they have become engaged, the other obstacle to overcome is the wedding celebration, and all the drama and stress that leads up to that climatic day.

So I wrote this article for my daughter, and anyone who will be planning a wedding soon. By today’s standards, my wedding reception was plain and simple, but look! We’re happily married for almost 30 years. So here’s some advice to make that day a start of a lasting, loving, committed life together.

http://familyshare.com/marriage/4-ways-to-stop-singing-the-post-wedding-blues

LDS Women’s Book Review and Goodreads

My Review:

This parenting book covered each stage of parenting, from infants and toddlers to elementary age and teens. Regardless of which stage you may be in right now, you will find something useful to you as a parent. There are chapters for new parents about establishing good bedtime routines and also a chapter about potty training. As I’ve been parenting for going on 17 years now, these chapters are no longer useful for me. (Thank goodness!)
 Julie also uses a lot of humor in her writing which made this book an enjoyable read. For example, at the beginning of one of her chapters this is what she says, “What should be one of our main parenting goals? Survival? Yes, and that’s enough some days.” I couldn’t agree more!
 
As always when I review a non-fiction book with tips of any kind, it is too hard to list everything that I liked and learned. So here are some things I really enjoyed reading in this book.
–Eight Values That Are Common to Strong Families: Some of those values included: Choices and consequences,Hard work is good for you, Integrity, Serving Others and Love.
–Lifting Children Who make Mistakes:“How we react to mistakes directly correlates with the degree a person feels
self-worth and confidence to rise above those mistakes.”
 
–How to Stop Yelling at Your Kids: Some of the ideas were to take a break, go for a walk or write down your thoughts. Whatever it would take to calm down and not yell at your children. This is a skill that all parents can work on.
 
–Strategies for Keeping Siblings Close: I liked the ideas of how you need to teach your kids to support each other, give them opportunities to do things together (whether they want to or not), and learn to make happy memories from doing things with each other.
 
–Co-Parenting After Divorce: I have to say that I was VERY happy to find a chapter about this in a parenting book. So many times the past six years I’ve felt like I was all on my own, and wandering through the dark trying to parent as a single mom while still parenting with my ex-husband. Gatekeeping was discussed where one parent or the other tries to keep the children from the other parent whether physically or emotionally, or finding ways to have the other parent look bad in the children’s eyes. The tips to avoid this were to 1-Share information between parents so both parents stay actively involved, 2-Discuss the noncustodial parent with the child:It is helpful to remember that although the other parent may not be physically present, he or she is still ever-present in your child’s heart and mind, 3-Share custodial responsibilities:(I LOVED this next part) “Remember that you divorced your spouse; your children did not divorce their parent. Research studies report that if both parents live nearby, it maximizes children’s post divorce adjustment. Welcome the time your children spends with your ex, unless you need to address safety issues. Avoid showing hostility at exchanges. Be flexible when schedules have to be adjusted from time to time. Shared parenting gives you an emotional and physical renewal while the children spend time with another person who loves them like you do.”
–Using Technology Wisely: (With two teens in the house this was very relevant too!) 1. Time-out from technology,
2. Avoid anonymity and intolerance,and 3. Check, pry, and supervise. I feel every parent with tweens and teens needs to read this chapter.
In the end I feel like this is a good parenting book that would benefit new and experienced parents. Even if you pick out a few things to try and use with your family, I feel you will see some good changes. This book can be read at several different sittings or when you specifically need information about a certain topic. This book would be a great Mother’s Day present or a gift given to new parents at a baby shower.
Reviewed by Sheila at https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1272075016?utm_medium=api&utm_source=grid_widget
and http://www.ldswomensbookreview.com/wordpress/2015/05/08/keep-it-real-and-grab-a-plunger-25-tips-for-surviving-parenthood-by-julie-k-nelson-blog-tour-review/

Min Reads and Reviews Book Review

There was so many things I liked about this book, it’s hard to know where to start.  There were so many thoughtful messages and advice.  I appreciated them all.  Sometimes with parenting books, I feel lectured, or that everything I do is wrong when it comes to my kids, and I didn’t feel that way reading this book.  I think there are many topics in this book that any parent in any stage could relate to.  For example: Lifting Children Who Make Mistakes, How to Stop Yelling at Your Kids, Bedtime Routines (that was and is still a needed necessity in our home), I could go on and on.  I recommend this book to parents who are first starting their journey, or like me, have older kids.  We could all use a refresher.

5 out of 5 stars.
By Mindy Holt
review can be found at
http://www.minreadsandreviews.blogspot.com/

Book Review on “Storyweaver”

Oh, my goodness. What an amazing book. Every parent should read this book. Everyone who is planning to become a parent needs to read this book. It is full of the best advice I’ve ever read on parenting.

Though each chapter was my favorite chapter, my most favorite chapter was Chapter 10, “Keep it Real and Wave Your Wand – making memories  at mealtimes.

This author has a sense of humor that makes this book even more fun to read. Not only that, but parents can learn so much about, not only surviving parenthood, but enjoying every step they take during parenthood.

I strongly advice every Mom and Dad to read this book. You will not be sorry.

by JoAnn Arnold
review can be found at: http://authorjoann.blogspot.com/

Literary Time Out: Book Review

Literary Time Out: Book Review: Keep it Real and Grab a Plunger by Julie K. Nelson

Ah parenting books….we have a love/hate relationship. I tend to avoid them for a couple reasons. 1-It’s not mind candy. Apparently I like fluff stories. I can whip through those in hours, no problem. Non-fiction books I slog though and hope to eventually finish because it’s good for me and I should be doing something better with my mind. 2-The guilt issue. I tend to avoid things that make me feel guilty 🙂

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, I’ll admit that it was the plunger that grabbed my interest. That, and the use of the word “surviving” in the title. They both seemed very apropos for my current parenting experience.

The very first thing I read in this book was chapter 9. Yes, I know that’s weird, but that’s what I did. It’s the chapter on how to stop yelling at your kids. Again, very relevant to my current situation. I’ve actually read that chapter twice now, and since I’m going to be watching my nephews for a week this chapter gave me some great ideas on how to calm everyone down (is that possible with 8 kids under 9 in your house?)

I actually finished this book very quickly (very unusual for me…see reason number one above). Although, I will admit to skimming chapters that didn’t relate to my current situation. I enjoyed the real life stories, the humor, and the reminder that we aren’t perfect, but we can keep trying. A couple things that stuck out to me were when she shared the quote, “Right is right, even if no one is doing it. Wrong is wrong, even if everyone is doing it.” Amen, sister! Love that. And this quote I felt was basically the premise of her book. “In the long run, the only thing of lasting value you can give your child is your time and the memories of the time you shared together.” -Ibid, xxiv

 There were so many topics covered in this book, it really seems like it had something for everyone. Everything from potty training, to blended families, to vacations, to honesty and values, and a whole lot more. It was well written in a non-guilt inducing way (although, let’s be honest…I’m a woman. Isn’t guilt hardwired into me somehow?)

by Tarah
review can be found at http://literarytimeout.blogspot.com/2015/05/book-review-keep-it-real-and-grab.html

“My Book Addiction” blog book review 5/12/15

Blog tour~Julie K. Nelson with the book Keep It Real and Grab a Plunger: 25 tips for surviving parenthood | My Book Addiction and More!

Is was an entertaining as well as informative, funny and educational book. While, my children are grown…Parents! Is is a great resource book!

Filled with insight, resources to help enrich yours and your children’s lives. An informative, entertaining, and enjoyable read! A wonderful “self-help” book, packed full of knowledge, insight, information and a gem of a book. New and young parents, this would be a very helpful book, one in which, the reader, learns so much, it is unbelievable, how much information the author packed into this amazing book. Easy to read, with funny insights from the author’s own experience as a parent. I would recommend to both new and young parents. Enjoyable! Well written!

*Received for an honest review from the author and/or publisher*

**Cross-posted on My Book Addiction and More**

Rating: 5

By April R

review can be found at this link:

http://www.mybookaddictionandmore.com/blog-tourjulie-k-nelson-with-the-book-keep-it-real-and-grab-a-plunger-25-tips-for-surviving-parenthood/