Things moms learn...

I have the most WONDERFUL small group that I'm blessed (TOTALLY BLESSED!) to lead this year. They are all 'new' moms - moms with babies under 8 months old. They come tired, sometimes sleep-deprived, sometimes their lesson is done, and sometimes it isn't. But they come, babies in arms, to pray and study together. And I have learned so much from them!!

Recently we started talking about books and other things that we have learned from in the process of mothering. I was slightly in a pickle. CBS (Community Bible Study) doesn't like its leaders to endorse anything but the 'official' reading list that is offered at the end of the year. I could let them talk, but couldn't say too much on my personal views.

However, there are a lot of BAD, JUNKY Christian parenting books out there. REALLY, REALLY BAD books. And they have holy titles and sound so... spiritual. I can't really express this to these wonderful women. So instead, I'm going to post here on the stuff I can't talk about... And they might drop in and read this [wink wink] So...

LINKS
Here's some links that I think help give some perspective on infant sleeping, mothering, and growing kids... (Actually, there are SO MANY more good ones, but I'll just start with these...)

• Ask Dr. Sears on sleeping and infants
• Studies on Normal Infant Sleep
• Slumber's Unexplored Landscape
• The Family Issues Page
• Canadian Pediatrics Committee and American Academy of Pediatrics statements (See - I may not agree, but I do know what the medical community is saying!)
  

BOOKS
There's tons being written right now. I tried to pick the ones that I think have good information, without being crazy and locked into either end of the parenting spectrum (i.e. authoritarian, punitive parenting or loosey-goosey, touchy-feely parenting.)

• Familes Where Grace is the Place by Jeff VanVonderen
• Nighttime Parenting by Dr. William Sears (Actually, just about anything he and his wife write has good stuff in it.)
• Kids are Worth it and
  
• Through the Rough Times, both by Barbara Coloroso
• Grace-Based Parenting by Dr. Tim Kimmel
• Raising Positive Kids in a Negative World by Zig Ziglar
• 25 Things Every New Mother Should Know by Martha Sears
• Pick Up Your Socks...and Other Skills Growing Children Need! by Elizabeth Crary and Pati Casebolt
  

A wise person I know said that you weren't "done" parenting until you have met your great-grandchildren. In other words, you can't show that you have done a good job parenting until you see how your children taught their children to parent. The older my kids get, the more I realize that I have made mistakes as a mom, and what great parents God gave me! And I also realize that while there are many GOOD ways to parent, there are also many, MANY "bad" ways...

From our home to yours...
Deb