So she asked her school-age son, who didn't miss a beat in responding: A happy one.Thus began a journey of reflection and repair work, as Rebecca asked herself an even harder question: How can I rediscover everyday joy amid the chaos of schedules, homework, and housework--not to mention the guilt, comparisons, loneliness, fear, and overwhelm? In other words, how can I become a happy mom again?In this relatable guide, Rebecca walks readers through the process of getting back to happy, for your own sake as well as your family's. Going beyond the usual advice about finding balance, embracing gratitude, and not sweating the small stuff, her hard-won advice is written by a busy mom in the trenches. Topics include: * Letting go of perfection (or anything close to it) * Making peace with the past--including the pain of disappointment, loss, and the roads not taken * Tuning in to your own wants and needs--and tuning out the comparisons, shoulds, and noise of social media * Finding magic in the mess * Choosing joy over fear and worry * Creating healthy boundaries so that everyone in your life can thrive (including you!)Filled with fresh insights, simple strategies, and aha moments, this is that rare book you'll want to read, share, and return to for a booster shot of confidence, connection, and joy.

    She has been teaching women about "active birth" ever since. In this updated and Americanized guide, Balaskas explains how to prepare for and experience a truly natural birth. She leads the pregnant woman through yoga-based stretching exercises and massage practice, and describes the stages of labor and comfortable positions for each, at home or in a hospital. Balaskas has also included a chapter on water birth as well as postpartum exercises.

    In this empowering book, Gavin de Becker, the nation's leading expert on predicting violent behavior and author of the monumental bestseller The Gift of Fear, offers practical new steps to enhance children's safety at every age level, giving you the tools you need to allow your kids freedom without losing sleep yourself. With daring and compassion, he shatters the widely held myths about danger and safety and helps parents find some certainty about life's highest-stakes questions: How can I know a baby-sitter won't turn out to be someone who harms my child? (see page 103) What should I ask child-care professionals when I interview them? (see page 137) What's the best way to prepare my child for walking to school alone? (see page 91) How can my child be safer at school? (see page 175) How can I spot sexual predators? (see page 148) What should I do if my child is lost in public? (see page 86) How can I teach my child about risk without causing too much fear? (see page 98) What must my teenage daughter know in order to be safe? (see page 191) What must my teenage son know in order to be safe? (see page 218) And finally, in the face of all these questions, how can I reduce the worrying? (see page 56)

    Most of us thought we’d be amazing parents—and then we had kids. Now we spend what little free time we have comparing ourselves to other parents, comparing our kids to other kids, and panicking that everyone else is nailing it except us. Between constant social media postings to conflicting advice found in parenting books, we often have no choice but to freak out. But there is another way. We all just need to calm the h*ck down. Melanie Dale—a special needs parent, adoptive parent, in vitro parent, and reluctant cheer mom—believes we are all putting too much pressure on ourselves and our kids to be perfect. Instead, she argues, we need to take a step back so we can actually enjoy this journey called parenting. Calm the H*ck Down is filled with stories from Melanie’s own life, as well as real-life research for learning how to lighten up about every aspect of parenting—from poopy diapers and germs to family vacations and adolescent angst. She also discusses the pressure to knock it all out of the Pinterest park, the challenge of instilling some kind of faith into your kids, and worrying about their future while still trying to live in the present. Infused with quirky humor, profound insight, and accessible advice, Calm the H*ck Down gives you the permission to finally relax and enjoy this ridiculous thing we do called parenting.

    It is also showing how experiences during the first years of life profoundly influence intelligence, creativity, language development-and even later reading and math skills.Now two psychologists and child development experts-authors of the bestselling Baby Signs-have created a delightful guide for parents based on the most up-to-date knowledge of how babies discover the world. You'll learn how to:_ Create a homemade mobile to stimulate your three-month-old's delight in solving problems_ Play a patty-cake game to help your two-year-old make logical connections_ Initiate bedtime conversations that build your child's memory and sense of personal history_ Develop "Baby Signs" to help your toddler communicate before he or she can talk_ Stimulate your child's natural number skills with puppets and counting games_ Use nursery rhymes and special read-aloud techniques to foster reading readiness_ Nurture budding creativity with humor and fantasy play_ And much more!Baby Minds is not another program for creating "super babies." Instead it builds on activities that babies instinctively love to develop their unique abilities and make your daily interactions full of the joy of discovery-for both of you.

    Sometimes they are filled with gratitude and affection, and other times they seem totally indifferent. Attitude. Behavior. Development. Everything depends on the love relationship between you and your child. When children feel loved, they do their best. But how can you make sure your child feels loved? Since 1992, Dr. Gary Chapman's best-selling book "The 5Love Languages" has helpedmillions of couples develop stronger, more fulfilling relationships by teaching them to speak each others' love language. Each child, too, expresses and receives love through one of five different communication styles. And your love language may be totally different from that of your child. While you are doing all you can to show your child love, he may be hearing it as something completely opposite. Discover your child's primary language and learn what you can do to effectively convey unconditional feelings of respect, affection, and commitment that will resonate in your child's emotions and behavior."

    In The Big Book of Birth renowned childbirth educator and Realbirth Center founder Erica Lyon offers an antidote to that fear with a comprehensive and up- to-date guide to childbirth. Drawing from more than a decade of teaching expecting parents what really to expect, Lyon fills the void that currently exists in childbirth literature, offering clear, current, objective advice on everything from choosing your doctor or midwife, to the realities of assisted and cesarean births, to the many different pain-coping options you can use during delivery and proven techniques that can help you relax and often speed along your labor. The Big Book of Birth guides women through the four stages of labor, dispelling misconceptions and providing a wealth of objective information in a warm, welcoming, and well- organized format. A long-overdue resource, The Big Book of Birth gives expectant mothers the knowledge they need to approach childbirth with confidence and joy.

    In The Petit Appetit Cookbook, mother and professional cook Lisa Barnes offers a healthy all-organic alternative to commercially processed, preservative-filled foods to help create delicious menus, nurture adventurous palates, and begin a lifetime of positive eating habits for children.Includes:150+ easy, fast, child-tested recipes for ages 4 months to 4 yearsMealtime solutions for even the most finicky eatersNutritional information for each recipeTime-saving cooking techniquesThe right age- and stage-appropriate food choicesHow and when to introduce solids to baby's dietAdapting family recipes for young childrenRecognizing signs of food allergies and intolerances

    Patterson, Pamela Bradley and Jean Riordan (Perfect Paperback - Jan 1, 2000)

    It offers nurturing support and practical ideas to guide you toward a new way of being. Enjoyable, down-to-earth, and empowering, Renée Peterson Trudeau’s ten paths to peace will help you learn how to:* find your center and move through chaos and uncertainty with renewed strength and ease* live every day aligned with your values and what matters most* slow down, tap the wisdom of your wise self, and know what’s best for you and your family* release old habits, fears, and anxieties as you explore a new way of being* access more joy by living in the present moment (the best antidote to stress!)* experience more freedom and unscheduled time

    Its ideas derive from two sources: the ancient wisdom of Ayurveda, with its emphasis on body, mind, and spirit, and the latest Western scientific prenatal research. By integrating the best information from these two very different perspectives, this remarkable book gives readers the tools to ensure that our children are nourished by thoughts, words, and actions from the very moment of conception.Magical Beginnings, Enchanted Lives is rich in practical information, including strategies to help enliven the body intelligence of unborn babies by nourishing each of their five senses, as well as through Ayurvedically balanced nutrition and eating with awareness. Specific yoga poses and meditation techniques reduce the mother’s stress and improve the infant’s emotional environment, as do tips for conscious communication with a partner. Exercises prepare parents for the experience of childbirth itself, followed by natural approaches to dealing with the first weeks of parenting, from healing herbs to enhancing your milk supply to coping with postpartum depression.Inspiring, expansive, and remarkably informative, this unique book from acclaimed experts in mind-body medicine will profoundly enhance the experience of pregnancy and birth for both parents and baby.

    In this warm and reassuring book, scores of real-life second-time parents offer first-timers their stories and lessons learned. One hundred accessible entries guide new parents through pregnancy and the first year of life, covering everything from birth plans and breast-feeding to finding a parental comfort zone. With a dose of patience and a sprinkling of humor, How to Have Your Second Child First helps first-timers navigate parenthood with the savvy and calm of moms and dads who have been there beforetwice.

    But it can be plenty tough, too: Around the clock, you’re working to keep your little one healthy, teach her the difference between right and wrong, and make sure none of her little fingers find their way to the electrical outlets, the dog’s nose, or grandpop’s cup of coffee. In YOU: Raising Your Child, Drs. Mehmet Oz and Michael Roizen, the New York Times #1 bestselling authors of the YOU health series, help you navigate the often tricky journey of parenting with the ultimate guide to raising a happy, healthy child. Dr. Mehmet Oz—host of television’s The Dr. Oz Show—and Dr. Michael Roizen—chief wellness officer and chair of the Wellness Institute of the Cleveland Clinic—have sold millions of books informing readers about healthy dieting, aging, and overall health. Picking up where their prior book, YOU: Having a Baby, left off, the docs provide oh-wow information and insider advice to help parents understand the biology and psychology of raising a child from birth to school age. With humor and cutting-edge biological insights, the authors address everything from troubleshooting infant health issues to creating an environment that supports the emotional and intellectual development of your growing child. They talk about the various approaches to parenting—are you a Marshmallow Mommy or an Iron Maiden, passive or hyperinvolved? The docs help you identify your style of parenting, encouraging passive parents to create clear boundaries and hypervigilant ones to step back more often and let their kids develop. You will learn to become the ideal parent: firm but flexible. The docs also provide an extensive overview of nuts-and-bolts health problems— from asthma to fevers to emergency room visits and the sensitive issue of vaccinations. In YOU: Raising Your Child, America’s most trusted doctors, who co-host a daily Sirius/XM radio program for Oprah Radio, once again come to the rescue with wisdom about how to provide an enriching environment with the ultimate goal of raising a child with a healthy body—and mind. As the docs say in their introduction: “Our goal is to teach you how to create the optimal environment for your child—an environment that’s most conducive to your child thriving in all areas of life, physically, emotionally, socially, and developmentally. Why? Because the latest research shows us that the environment—as defined not only by physical space but also by the behaviors of parents and caregivers—is the number-one determinant of your child’s future.”  *** YOU: Raising Your Child offers a brand-new way to think about parenting. Imagine child development—and your child’s journey though life—as a ride down a long, often unpredictable river. You are the guide, there to control the direction and speed that you travel. For the fi rst few years of their lives, your children are your precious cargo—the passengers who take in everything they see and who learn from you how to paddle on their own. As the guide, you can control the path you take and the environments you choose to travel in—with the goal of creating a healthy and happy life for your child. Here’s just a sample of what you’ll learn: • The mind relies on the environment to give clues and signals about how it’s supposed to develop and what it’s supposed to learn. Dr. Roizen and Dr. Oz show you how to create the best learning landscape possible to help your child thrive. • Breast milk provides the perfect concoction of nutrients to help protect your baby against infection, asthma, and many other conditions (it also burns 500 calories a day to help you lose that baby weight!). But if you aren’t able to breastfeed, we have plenty of tips on exactly what and how much to feed your baby to make sure that he or she is getting the best possible diet from day one. • Get the truth about high fevers and learn the most accurate way to take a temperature (it’s not what you think!). You’ll also get insider tricks for handling everything from earaches to febrile seizures.  • Whether your child is allergic to gluten or peanut butter, there are two dominant theories about why more kids have allergies today than ever before. YOU: Raising Your Child explains them and tells you unique ways to prevent and treat allergies in your child. Our goal is for YOU: Raising Your Child to be the map that you need to safely navigate the waters of your baby’s life from day one to day 2,190, and in it we will give you all the tools you need to steer the best possible course.

    Are you ready for your child's teen years?If you've ever lain awake at night wondering what might be around the corner of your child's adolescence, this book is for you! After more than thirty-eight years of working with more than 2,500 years, Mark Gregston, founder of heartlight, a Christian residential counseling center, introduces Tough Guys and Drama Queens — a must-read "how-to" book for parents of pre-teens and teens with time-tested, biblical techniques to guide you  through these unavoidably challenging years.Mark helps parents realize that some natural parenting approaches are actually counter-productive and therefore totally ineffective.In place of those, he offers tried and true wisdom on the vital importance of relationship, forgiveness, and explains how conflict is actually the precursor to change.Everyday your child is bombarded by highly sexualized culture and over-exposed to words and images that can influence them beyond your reach.your connection to them during these years is critical as is your response to tough issues such as appearance, performance, authority and respect, boundaries, and many more.

    Benjamin Spock. But while children never change, issues and concerns do. Dr. Robert Needlman, himself a top-notch pediatrician, has newly updated and expanded this timeless classic to speak to any parent who is raising children in our rapidly changing world. While still providing reassuring advice on age-old topics such as caring for a new baby, as well as accidents, illness, and injuries, this book also contains expanded information in many new areas, including: • Cutting-edge medical opinion on immunizations • Obesity and nutrition • Cultural diversity and nontraditional family structures • Children’s learning and brain development • The newest thinking on children with special needs • Environmental health • Increasingly common disorders such as ADHD, depression, and autism— including medications and behavioral interventions • Children and the media, including electronic games • Coping with family stress • And much, much more With an updated glossary of common medications and an authoritative list of the most reliable online resources, this invaluable guide is still the next best thing to Dr. Spock’s #1 rule of parenting: “Trust yourself. You know more than you think you do.”