“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/

Radio Interview: CBC.ca Radio 1 “Alberta @noon”

I was on CBC Radio 1 that is carried across Canada. I tip my hat to our neighbors to the North. It was on May 8th and preceded Mother’s Day.  The question the host asked listeners was “What was the best advice your mom gave you?” or “What do you wish she would have given you as advice?” One of the responses I loved was “Play the hand you are dealt.” What would you have said?

Here’s the full program podcast. I come on after the first guest at around 8:00.

http://www.cbc.ca/albertaatnoon/episode/2015/05/08/an-for-friday-may-8-2015/

Mother’s Day

With Mother’s Day approaching in 2 days, I’d like to share my 2 latest videos about parenting. They are completely funny, touching, and real. The first one is “Ten things you wish you would have known before having a baby” and I’ve watched it over and over and always tear up at the end.

The 10 things are:

10. “Don’t listen to anyone else. You’ll know how to take care of your baby. Don’t care one ounce about what other people think about you.” While I DO agree with most of this, I would also say to keep an open mind. We sometimes get in a rut or don’t see clearly the damage we are doing from inheriting unhealthy behaviors from our own parents. So while we shouldn’t be paralyzed with worry about what other people think, we should listen to wise people, especially those with more experience and expertise, to see if maybe they have something better we could be doing.

9. “Get on a schedule.” Yes and yes. Although some parents can do this earlier in the infancy stage because their babies respond to sleeping through the night. I’m always amazed when some mom says her 3 month old is sleeping 6 hours straight. I think, “What drugs are you giving him?” Sleeping was always a hard thing for me. Some of my infants were terrible sleepers and that made me a terribly sleep-deprived Momzilla at times.

8. “Parenting is hard. Take time out to revive and find yourself.” Amen and amen. Ideas they suggested were to get out and treat yourself to ice cream, go to grandma’s and drop the kids off, take a 20 minute nap, and have a weekly date night. I would add that parents need to get away for emotional, social, and physical health. I am SUCH a better mother when I return from a brief (or sometimes lengthy) absence. I think, “Okay you little buggers. I guess still love you after all. I missed you!”

7. “Discover who your children are and let them be.” When we clash with our kids, it’s often because they don’t measure up to our expectations or they don’t agree with us. So what? Most of the time (unless it involves taking drugs, stealing the car, stuff like that…) they are just figuring out who they are and that’s probably going to be different than who we are. Let’s be okay with that.

6. “Be prepared for the unexpected because it WILL happen.” And it usually involved bodily fluids. Like the time my daughter hurled vomit across the isle of the train in Chicago and hit us, the windows behind, and our bags. Just before be boarded the plane. Awesome.

5. “Make room for the baby.” The video talks about the physical needs of a baby. Stroller. Crib. Tons of diapers. Stuff like that. But I would add to make room in your heart for the baby. Especially if this is the first one, our lives are completely turned upside down. It was all about us before having a baby. Not any longer. Now the baby should be our primary focus and we need to give up and sacrifice to be there and meet all his or her needs. That might mean we drop or put aside some personal interests for a time. Change our priorities. Stop watching so many reality TV shows so we can spend time bonding with a new person who is ours to keep forever.

4. “Memories will be the only thing you’ll have so keep these fleeting moments in your heart.”

3. “Be grateful for your kids. It’s ALL worth it.” We may not think this while having to change the sheets in the middle of the night because a child wet the bed while sleeping with you because they were too scared to sleep in their own bed.

2. “Don’t be too hard on yourself. The house can wait. Some days you just won’t have the patience.”

1. “There’s going to be one thing you cannot prepare yourself for, that you cannot know until you experience it is the love you are going to feel. Overwhelming, powerful, consuming love.”

Here’s the link. You gotta watch it. Bring your hankie. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Ap6IZZQcjg

The second video clip is one I found a year or so ago. It’s brilliant! I show it in class to my university students in the parenting class I teach. I have them write a newspaper ad job description of a parent. We share them and then watch this. I hope you still have your hankie from the last video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWcJZ210AaM HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY