Book Reviews:

I love to read. I always have a book open, waiting for me to have a spare minute. I haven’t always been this way. As a kid, I hated that my whole family loved to read. They would sit around in the evening reading and I would sit around completely bored. My dad would be off on an adventure with Louis Lamoure, my mom beating down the rain forests with some medical missionaries, and Andrea was probably hanging out with the Box Car Children. It took me until High School to finally appreciate a good novel. The summer of 1996 I devoured book after book as I worked on my tan when I wasn’t working in the dining hall at camp.

Novels are still my favorite. I love that I can instantly be transported from my messy, disorganized, loud, and sometimes annoying life, to a place of tranquility. I haven’t picked up a good novel lately (I am in the middle on one about the girl who works at a funeral parlor -- it is mildly entertaining), but I have been reading a lot. I purchased some books for the MOPS library and previewed them first. I am in charge of the little library and found a few books that I wanted to read and that I think other young moms will also appreciate.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Thanks Annie for recommending this book! The ideas in the book really helped me as I struggled to figure out Mandy. For the first 3 months of her life, I tried in vain to keep her on a 3 hour eat, wake, sleep schedule. She isn’t a very scheduled girl and I realized while reading this book that I was unknowingly starving her of sleep. Mandy is now taking 3 long naps a day, going to bed at 6:30pm, and most nights sleeping until 7am. I think this book could help anyone! Mandy is happy and alert when she is awake and goes down for naps and night sleep without a fuss. She is like a different baby – a sweet happier one! It is a text-book style read, lots of statistics and studies, and tons of information helpful for children of all ages.

The House the Cleans Itself. I loved this book and learned a lot about why my house gets cluttered so fast after I pick it up. The author explains how she stumbled upon “The House That Cleans Itself” method while doing research for a novel about a neat-freak. Instead of changing your habits (which never seems to work for me), this method suggests changing your house to fit what you already do. It is a step-by-step guide to de-cluttering your home so that it stays clean and neat.

Boundaries with Kids. This book was a good reminder to me to be more creative with my discipline. It is so easy for me to say to Emma, “Do this or you are getting a spanking.” The authors of this book suggests thinking of punishments that are going to make the child want to choose obedience instead of obeying out of fear of pain. I also needed a reminder that consistency is very important. Once I clearly state the task and the punishment if the task is not completed, I must follow through. The authors warn that the child will hate the new boundaries, but they are necessary for character development.

Dunstan Baby Language. I learned about this idea of hearing a young baby’s speech on Oprah. It is a fascinating 5 word system that clearly shows what a baby is demanding. It works best on very little babies, under 3 months. It was really interesting to identify Mandy’s sound cues. I was able to clearly hear her hunger, gas, discomfort, and sleepy “words.” Mandy is almost 4 months now and her language has been subtly changing so that I know instinctively what she is demanding, instead of hearing it verbally through her cues. This is a DVD set and I highly recommend it to first-time moms especially.

If you attend MOPS is Dallas, you can check these books out for yourself (if we ever have a meeting not canceled because of snow). If not, hopefully you will check them out from your local library. Reading these books helped me a great deal. It is always good to get another perspective as I muddle through my full-time job of mothering. At times, I wonder why I was given such a hard job (and I why I thought I wanted it). But then I remember my blessings and thank God that he has given me every resource to complete this job well. There are a lot of good books out there, thanks to people with wisdom beyond my years and experience.

“If any of you lacks wisdom, ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault and it will be given to him.” James 1 :7