I am not usually a “self help” reader, but I have read a few for reviews, and I have loved each of them.  I don’t usually love reading about parenting, because it usually makes me feel like a horrible mother.  This book on the other hand made me feel like “I might be doing something right”, and “Dang, those are awesome ideas”.  It was a great book.

The author is funny.  She shares “real” life trials about raising kids, and shares some great solutions, examples, etc on how to handle them.

I think one of my favorite parts of the book is when the author talks about how we don’t have to “reward” every kid.  She was referring to sports.  My kids are not in sports, thank heavens, but they have done some church sports at times.  I laugh every time when they say “we have to reward everyone so no one feels left out”.  WHAT?  Seriously.  I love how she addresses this issue in the book.  How are we going to teach our kids the importance of good sportsmanship, how to be competitive without conflict if “everyone” gets recognized for the same effort.  No.  There are some kids that do more, and deserve the recognition of doing so.  If others can’t handle it, too freaking bad.  I do not want my kids growing up thinking they don’t have to put any effort into anything because they will get rewarded regardless.  What she does say is how we should recognize each thing that they did do during their sport.  If they made a goal, point, etc. or met or beat their previous best then it’s important to focus on those efforts.  Letting them know we are proud of how much better they did and how proud we are they keep trying.  It’s okay if we are not the best at everything, but to try our hardest at everything we do.

I love how she tackles how to approach every day battles we may have with our kids in a more productive way.   There are just so many great ideas that I intend to apply in my own life.  I love how she talks about each stage of a child’s life.  There are trials with every age, and she has some wonderful ideas on how to approach them.

I really enjoyed this book.  I love the humor that was in this book.  As a parent there are times when I either have to laugh or cry.  I wish I could say I always laugh, but that is not the case, but I try to.

It was mentioned so many times in this book about how we will miss the days when our kids were young.  I can attest to that.  I was such a nervous nelly mother that it was hard for me to enjoy the “little” years like I should have.  I cannot tell you how much I wish I could have been able to relax a little more and enjoy my kids when they were little.  I have to admit that I don’t always “love” the teenage years, but I am trying every day to appreciate my kids because now, with one in college it has hit me in the face about how much I missed so many opportunities with our kids.  I had to get something done.  I had to do so and so.  The author address this many times, and I loved each and every one of them.

This book was inspirational and so insightful.  I loved every minute of it.  Not once did I feel like I as inadequate as a mother.  Instead I found great ideas to hopefully make my household run more smoothly.