Aren't You Forgetting Someone?: Essays from My Mid-Life Revenge


Kari Lizer - 2020
    She finds the wry, bittersweet humor in (almost) all situations--whether it's becoming radioactive during a thyroid cancer treatment, getting fired from her volunteer work, or struggling to find her identity outside of motherhood. Aren't You Forgetting Someone? speaks to those of us who lament the invisibility of the middle-aged woman, but also revel in the unexpected delights of newfound freedom to do whatever the hell we want while no one is looking.

Toddlers Are A**holes: It's Not Your Fault


Bunmi Laditan - 2015
    It’s just that a little psychopath who walks through life 100% convinced that he or she is the center of the universe does not care that you have a heart, a mind, or a soul. You are simply a skin-covered robot tall enough to reach the candy on top of the fridge. And clean up the rage-vomit when you make the fatal mistake of cutting off the crust on your toddler’s toast. (Or not cutting it off—seriously, you can’t win.)Includes:The theory of toddler evolution Mealtime (AKA Hell)Your unraveling lifeAnd how not to die inside

A Trip of One’s Own


Kate Wills - 2021
    Luckily, her job as a travel journalist offered her the perfect opportunity to escape from it all. But this time, her restless jet-setting felt different. She felt more alone than ever before, particularly against a backdrop of never-ending hen dos, weddings and baby showers.So she began to search history for female travellers to inspire her. From a 4th-century nun to a sailor in disguise; from an opium-addicted author, to a globe-girdling cyclist, Kate retraces these incredible journeys on a quest to discover what her desire to be on the move is really about. And when Covid-19 grounds all her travel plans, she discovers that happiness can surprise you in unexpected places.We've all dreamed of leaving it all behind and striding off into the sunset to somewhere hotter, happier and quieter. Perhaps we've even got a little way down the road, before the logistics, the doubts and the ties that bind have caused us to turn back.

The Conscious Parent: Transforming Ourselves, Empowering Our Children


Shefali Tsabary - 2010
    Shefali Tsabary’s A Call to Conscious Parenting is that our children are born to us to create deep internal transformation within us.Our children have the power to unleash our egoic behavior unlike anyone else, triggering all of our emotional reactivity. As, through our intimate relationship with them, we are exposed to our immaturity, they become our most accurate mirror of our own lack of emotional development. In other words, by inviting us to confront who we are in our relationship with them, our children raise us to be the parents they long for us to become.Despite our best intentions to raise our children well, in our unconsciousness we pass on emotional legacies to our children that have deep and lasting repercussions. Bequeathing to them our unresolved needs, unmet expectations, and frustrated dreams, we shackle them in unconscious patterns that shut them down to their own unique being. To do justice to parenthood, a parent needs to become conscious. Only to the degree we are willing to transform our own emotional present do we succeed in positively influencing our children’s future.Dr. Tsabary asks us to set aside traditional parenting strategies that major in controlling our children and instead find true kinship with their spirits by tuning into who each child is in its own unique essence. Surrendering to the oneness of the parent-child relationship in this way lifts parenting out of the physical and into the realm of the sacred.Peppered with practical, hands-on examples from Dr. Tsabary’s real-life experiences with the countless families she has helped journey consciously together, A Call to Conscious Parenting is a manual for giving our children the opportunity to shine and dazzle with their natural state of being.

The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook: 130 Recipes That Will Help Your Baby Learn to Eat Solid Foods-and That the Whole Family Will Enjoy


Tracey Murkett - 2011
    By about six months, when babies can sit up unassisted, grab things, and munch on them, they are ready to join the family at the kitchen table and discover real, solid food for themselves. Baby-led weaning sets the stage for healthy eating habits in the years ahead by helping babies learn to feed themselves, to gauge appetite, and to love a variety of nutritious foods. Now, with The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook, cooking family meals that your little one can share will be a cinch. Gill Rapley and Tracey Murkett—coauthors of Baby-Led Weaning, the book that started the movement—collect 130 recipes perfectly suited for baby-led weaning, as well as: • Straightforward advice on which foods to start with• Essential at-a-glance information on nutrition and food safety• Healthy ideas for quick snacks, delicious desserts, and meals for the whole family• Anecdotes and quotes from parents who follow baby-led weaning• Tips on minimizing the mess, keeping food the right size for little hands, and more! The Baby-Led Weaning Cookbook will give you the recipes and the confidence to create exciting, enjoyable mealtimes that encourage little ones to develop at their own pace.

Amateur Hour: Motherhood in Essays and Swear Words


Kimberly Harrington - 2018
    It’s a place of loud parenting, fierce loving, too much social media, and occasional inner monologues where timeless debates are resolved such as Pro/Con: Caving to PTO Bake Sale Pressure (“PRO: Skim the crappiest brownies for myself. CON: They’re really crappy.”) With accessibility and wit, she captures the emotions around parenthood in artful and earnest ways, highlighting this time in the middle—midlife, the middle years of childhood, how women are stuck in the middle of so much. It’s a place of elation, exhaustion, and time whipping past at warp speed. Finally, it’s a quiet space to consider the girl you were, the mother you are, and the woman you are always becoming.

YOU: Having a Baby: The Owner's Manual to a Happy and Healthy Pregnancy


Michael F. Roizen - 2009
    But no matter how much you've read, watched, studied, or talked about this amazing biological journey, you have never read anything like this. In this groundbreaking book, Dr. Michael Roizen and Dr. Mehmet Oz act as mythbusters for the hundreds of questions surrounding pregnancy in the same scientific, informative, and entertaining ways that have made them America's Doctors. In these pages, you'll learn everything you need to know about the miracles of fetal development, your health throughout the pregnancy, and providing the best possible environment for your growing child. Pregnancy is a complicated balancing act, but it doesn't have to be frightening. The doctors will help you de-stress as they describe accurately and rationally what happens during a thrilling nine months of life. While every pregnant body is different, odds are you'll experience some of the cravings, crying, and discomfort that almost all women go through. Your best tactic? Learn why these things are happening -- and what you should do about them. YOU: Having a Baby will teach you everything you need to know about what to eat (should I be eating for two?), how much to exercise, and what guilty pleasures will actually make pregnancy easier on you (and the loved ones who get to be around you for the whole thing). Each phase of pregnancy has different challenges, but the right information will prepare you for what's ahead. The interactive week-by-week calendar inside provides an even more detailed guideline for how and what you should feel through every step of the process. Exciting, cutting-edge scientific research in the fi eld of epigenetics has changed the way the medical profession looks at pregnancy, and now it can change your perspective, too. Epigenetics explores what makes us develop in certain ways -- why some people thrive at math while others are prone to chronic diseases. It turns out that there are easy things you can do that will not just help your baby's development in utero but will actually improve his or her chances of living a healthy, fulfi lling adult life. Filled with recipes for nutritious, satisfying snacks and meals even Pop can cook (yes, he can!), safe exercises for staying fit, and tons of YOU tips that will help you stay comfortable, YOU: Having a Baby is the ultimate guidebook for what to do from the moment of conception to the weeks after your child has arrived home. From morning sickness and food cravings to choosing a doctor and changing a diaper, YOU: Having a Baby will give you the real scoop about what's in store for you during this amazing time in your life.

Famous In Heaven And At Home: A 31-Day Character Study of the Proverbs 31 Woman


Michelle Myers - 2016
    As you develop your roles in your family, you unlock more of His plan. He tasked no one else but you with being your husband’s wife, and He hasn’t given anyone else except you the responsibility of being mother to your children. Spoiler alert – those assignments begin before we even meet our spouse! Famous in heaven and at home. That’s what He has called us to unquestionably. As we dig into Proverbs 31 together, let’s lay down our to-do lists and worldly expectations. Let’s not overlook and undervalue what we can be certain He desires from our lives. Rather than just seeking something worthy to do, let’s passionately pursue who God purposely created us to be.

Risen Motherhood: Gospel Hope for Everyday Moments


Emily Jensen - 2019
    In a world of five-step lists and silver-bullet solutions to become perfect parents, mothers are burdened with mixed messages about who they are and what choices they should make. If you feel pulled between high-fives and hard words, with culture’s solutions only raising more questions, you’re not alone.But there is hope.You might think that Scripture doesn’t have much to say about the food you make for breakfast, how you view your postpartum body, or what school choice you make for your children, but a deeper look reveals that the Bible provides the framework for finding answers to your specific questions about modern motherhood.Emily Jensen and Laura Wifler help you understand and apply the gospel to common issues moms face so you can connect your Sunday morning faith to the Monday morning tantrum.Discover how closely the gospel connects with today’s motherhood. Join Emily and Laura as they walk through the redemptive story and reveal how the gospel applies to your everyday life, bringing hope, freedom, and joy in every area of motherhood.

Don't Lick the Minivan: And Other Things I Never Thought I'd Say to My Kids


Leanne Shirtliffe - 2013
    She is our new Erma Bombeck!" —Elizabeth Boyle, New York Times best-selling author~As a woman used to traveling and living the high life in Bangkok, Leanne Shirtliffe recognized the constant fodder for humor while pregnant with twins in Asia's sin city. But in spite of deep-fried bug cuisine and nurses who cover newborn bassinets with plastic wrap, Shirtliffe manages to keep her babies alive for a year with help from a Coca-Cola deliveryman, several waitresses, and a bra factory. Then she and her husband return home to the isolation of North American suburbia.In Don't Lick the Minivan, Shirtliffe captures the bizarre aspects of parenting in her edgy, honest voice. She explores the hazards of everyday life with children such as:•The birthday party where neighborhood kids took home skin rashes from the second-hand face paint she applied.•The time she discovered her twins carving their names into her minivan's paint with rocks.•The funeral she officiated for "Stripper Barbie."•The horror of glitter.And much more!A delayed encounter with postpartum depression helps Shirtliffe to realize that even if she can't teach her kids how to tie their shoelaces, she's a good enough mom. At least good enough to start saving for her twins' college, eh, therapy fund. And possibly her own. Crisply written, Don't Lick the Minivan will have parents laughing out loud and nodding in agreement. Shirtliffe's memoir might not replace a therapist, but it is a lot cheaper.

Montessori from the Start: The Child at Home, from Birth to Age Three


Paula Polk Lillard - 2003
    Based on Dr. Maria Montessori's instructions for raising infants, its comprehensive exploration of the first three years incorporates the furnishings and tools she created for the care and comfort of babies. From the design of the baby's bedroom to the child-sized kitchen table, from diet and food preparation to clothing and movement, the authors provide guidance for the establishment of a beautiful and serviceable environment for babies and very young children. They introduce concepts and tasks, taking into account childrens' ''sensitive periods'' for learning such skills as dressing themselves, food preparation, and toilet training. Brimming with anecdote and encouragement, and written in a clear, engaging style, Montessori from the Start is a practical and useful guide to raising calm, competent, and confident children.

Do You Even Know What You're Doing?: A Collection of Reader-Submitted Medical Stories


Kerry Hamm - 2019
    What was waiting in the backseat as a hospital security guard moved a patient's vehicle? If you lost your new Littmann, to what extremes would you go to get it back?In this edition, we have weird ideas patients had about sex and reproductive health, hear more from school nurses, and thank our lucky stars we weren't on THAT shift.

The Whole Pregnancy Handbook: An Obstetrician's Guide to Integrating Conventional and Alternative Medicine Bef ore, During, and After Pregnancy


Joel Evans - 2005
    The Whole Pregnancy Handbook is an informative and reassuring guide that will empower you to choose your pre- and post-natal care with confidence. Topics include treatments for preconception health and fertility, massage and acupressure techniques, prenatal nutrition, preparing for labor, prenatal yoga for all three trimesters, best practices of doulas and midwives, candid recollections from other moms, and so much more. Written by Joel M. Evans, MD, OB/GYN, with Robin Aronson, the former editor in chief of Parents.com, the Web site for Parents magazine. Dr. Evans is also the founder of the Center for Women's Health, an integrative holistic health center located in Darien, Connecticut.

From Here To Maternity


Mel Giedroyc - 2004
    A low-ranking TV personality. Rather immature and carefree, my only responsibility to date has been a guinea pig. All that's about to change. I'm pregnant, and now I've become a cheddar cheese junkie, inseparable from my dungarees. Help!' Who can Mel turn to? Pen, her best friend, who is still annoyingly carefree and single, and whose effect on Mel is like an injection of pure caffeine to the system? Jools, the hippy who recommends basil nosegay for labour pains and placenta pate canapes when entertaining? Amanda, the well-heeled, pregnant-friend-from-Hell who, only weeks after her textbook delivery, is planning to have her firstborn taught to ski? Kate, Mel's sister and mother of two, whose offspring are inclined towards dangerous Captain Hook impersonations and sudden mood swings? Mel's mother, who got Mel through babyhood by way of regular coffee mornings and who impresses on her the importance of portable 1950s baby gear that looks about as foldable as a Transit van? Dan, the dad-to-be, who suddenly stops going to the pub to concentrate on Mel's dietary requirements and has adopted the sinister habit of always keeping a tape measure attached to his belt?

Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting


Laura Markham - 2012
    Laura Markham’s approach is as simple as it is effective. Her message: Fostering emotional connection with your child creates real and lasting change. When you have that vital connection, you don’t need to threaten, nag, plead, bribe—or even punish.This remarkable guide will help parents better understand their own emotions—and get them in check—so they can parent with healthy limits, empathy, and clear communication to raise a self-disciplined child. Step-by-step examples give solutions and kid-tested phrasing for parents of toddlers right through the elementary years.If you’re tired of power struggles, tantrums, and searching for the right “consequence,” look no further. You’re about to discover the practical tools you need to transform your parenting in a positive, proven way.