Potty Training Girls the Easy Way: A Stress-Free Guide to Helping Your Daughter Learn Quickly


Caroline Fertleman - 2009
    Practical and reassuring, Potty Training Girls the Easy Way will give your family the confidence to successfully achieve this important milestone.

Lots of Candles, Plenty of Cake


Anna Quindlen - 2012
    It's odd when I think of the arc of my life, from child to young woman to aging adult. First I was who I was. Then I didn't know who I was. Then I invented someone, and became her. Then I began to like what I'd invented. And finally I was what I was again. It turned out I wasn't alone in that particular progression. As she did in her beloved New York Times columns, and in A Short Guide to a Happy Life, Quindlen says for us here what we may wish we could have said ourselves. Using her past, present, and future to explore what matters most to women at different ages, Quindlen talks aboutMarriage: "A safety net of small white lies can be the bedrock of a successful marriage. You wouldn't believe how cheaply I can do a kitchen renovation."Girlfriends: "Real friends offer both hard truths and soft landings and realize that it's sometimes more important to be nice than to be honest." Our bodies: "I've finally recognized my body for what it is, a personality-delivery system, designed expressly to carry my character from place to place, now and in the years to come. It's like a car, and while I like a red convertible or even a Bentley as well as the next person, what I really need are four tires and an engine."Parenting: "Being a parent is not transactional. We do not get what we give. It is the ultimate pay-it-forward: We are good parents, not so they will be loving enough to stay with us, but so they will be strong enough to leave us." From childhood memories to manic motherhood to middle age, Quindlen uses the events of her own life to illuminate our own. Along with the downsides of age, she says, can come wisdom, a perspective on life that makes it both satisfying and even joyful. So here's to lots of candles, plenty of cake.

Love Works Like This: Moving from One Kind of Life to Another


Lauren Slater - 2002
    Slater, career-oriented and willfully autonomous, charts her own personal journey and decision-making process, starting with a list of the pros and cons, about having a child. The cons are many, the pros only one: “learning a new kind of love.” But what will that love look like? How does one reconcile the needs of the self with the demands of others? How do couples go from the dyad that is a marriage to the triad that is a family? And how can Slater adjust to losing precious control of her own carefully developed life?Slater’s complex biological and psychological history also lies at the core of this unique and yet strikingly universal story. One of the first people ever to take Prozac, she chronicles the impossibly conflicting advice regarding pregnancy and antidepressants, and explains the rationale behind her eventual decision to stop taking the medication during her first trimester. This is Slater’s first encounter with self-sacrifice, and for her a crossroad at which modern medicine and basic human love meet. Love Works Like This is a richly written book by “an enormously poetic and ebullient writer” (Elle magazine), an author who writes with “beauty and bravery” (Los Angeles Times Book Review) about falling in love, about growing into the ability to put someone else’s life ahead of your own, and about the rich rewards we can draw from the courage to exchange one kind of happy life for another.

Baby Hearts: A Guide to Giving Your Child an Emotional Head Start


Susan Goodwyn - 2005
    Now the authors of the bestselling Baby Minds and Baby Signs translate the latest research on the rich inner life of babies into practical, fun activities that will foster your child’s emotional skills during the most critical period–between birth and age three. This comprehensive guide will help you help your child express emotions effectively, develop empathy, form healthy friendships, and cope with specific challenges. Learn how to:•Talk with your child about emotions in order to help him recognize and control his own•Use face-to-face interaction, tone of voice, song, and touch to make your infant feel safe and secure•Start a gratitude journal to help your child appreciate the good things in life•Nurture self-esteem with “try, try again” activities and simple chores•Create a “What are they feeling” deck of cards to help your child understand and practice emotions •Use games and songs to help your child practice self-control•Overcome temper tantrums, aggression, shyness, separation anxiety, and other challengesWhether your child is as easy to raise as a sunflower, as difficult as the prickly holly bush, requires the patience of the delicate orchid, or is as active as the exuberant dandelion, Baby Hearts helps you provide the emotional support that may be the most important gift a parent can give.

Las Mamis: Favorite Latino Authors Remember Their Mothers


Esmeralda Santiago - 2000
    They come from rich families in the big cities of Latin America, from rural immigrant families, and from the worlds in between-and they share an extraordinary inner strength, often maintained against incredible odds. Pressed by conflicting cultural expectations, circumstance, and religion, they have managed the challenges of motherhood, leaving enduring legacies for their children. Now, in these vivid, poignant, and sometimes hilarious reminiscences-all of them infused with distinct sabor latino-Las Mamis celebrates the universality of family love and the special bond between mothers and children.Contributors include: Esmeralda Santiago, Piri Thomas, Marjorie Agosin, Junot Diaz, Alba Ambert, Liz Balmaseda, Mandalit del Barco, Gioconda Belli, Maria Escandon, Dagoberto Gilb, Francisco Goldman, Jaime Manrique, Gustavo Perez-Firmat, Ilan Stavans

If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit


Brenda Ueland - 1938
    She said she had two rules she followed absolutely: to tell the truth, and not to do anything she didn't want to do. Her integrity shines throughout If You Want to Write, her best-selling classic on the process of writing that has already inspired thousands to find their own creative center. Carl Sandburg called this book "The best book ever written about how to write." Yet Ueland reminds us that "Whenever I say 'writing' in this book, I also mean anything that you love and want to do or to make." Ueland's writing and her teaching are made compelling by her feisty spirit of independence and joy.

Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child


Marc Weissbluth - 1987
    Weissbluth, a leading researcher on sleep and children, promotes a revolutionary program to ensure healthy, happy sleep for a child--both at night and during equally important daytime naps. He offers dozens of anecdotes and new case histories of children with various sleep disorders and the prescribed methods of therapy.

Waking Mathilda: A Memoir of Childhood Narcolepsy


Claire Crisp - 2017
    Then came the H1N1 flu pandemic of 2009. It took only vaccine—one seemingly innocuous vaccine to Mathilda, the baby of the family—to change their lives forever. Diagnosed at age three as the world's youngest child with narcolepsy, the joyful and energetic Mathilda rapidly dissolved into someone unrecognizable. In this compelling narrative, Claire Crisp chronicles the fight for Mathilda's treatment. Leaving their family and country in England, the Crisps begin a new journey—one of faith, of loss, and of love as immigrants to the western shores of the United States.

Building Love Together in Blended Families: The 5 Love Languages and Becoming Stepfamily Smart


Gary Chapman - 2020
    With so many complex relationships involved, all the normal rules for family life change, even how you apply something as simple as the five love languages.That’s why Gary Chapman, the bestselling author of The 5 Love Languages® andnational expert on stepfamilies, Ron Deal, join together in this book to teach you how the five love languages can help your blended family. They’ll teach you:About the unique dynamics of stepfamiliesHow to overcome fear and trust issues in marriageHow to develop healthy parenting and step-parenting practicesHow the love languages should—and should not—be appliedYou’re going to face many challenges, but with the right strategies and smart work, your family can be stronger and healthier together.

The Mommy Myth: The Idealization of Motherhood and How It Has Undermined All Women


Susan J. Douglas - 2004
    In this must-read for every woman, Susan J. Douglas and Meredith W. Michaels shatter the myth of the perfect mom and all but shout, "We're not gonna take it anymore!"

The Room Lit By Roses


Carole Maso - 2000
    Author Biography: Carole Maso is the author of six novels, including Ghost Dance and Defiance. She is a professor of English at Brown University.

Big Magic: Creative Living Beyond Fear


Elizabeth Gilbert - 2015
    Gilbert offers insights into the mysterious nature of inspiration. She asks us to embrace our curiosity and let go of needless suffering. She shows us how to tackle what we most love, and how to face down what we most fear. She discusses the attitudes, approaches, and habits we need in order to live our most creative lives. Balancing between soulful spirituality and cheerful pragmatism, Gilbert encourages us to uncover the “strange jewels” that are hidden within each of us. Whether we are looking to write a book, make art, find new ways to address challenges in our work, embark on a dream long deferred, or simply infuse our everyday lives with more mindfulness and passion, Big Magic cracks open a world of wonder and joy.

Good Enough Is the New Perfect: Finding Happiness and Success in Modern Motherhood


Becky Beaupre Gillespie - 2011
    But between the conference calls and soccer practices, do you feel like you've lost track of what really makes you happy? And are you finding out the hard way that you can't do everything?The truth is that you can have it all.The secret is creating an "all" that you love.Join a growing new wave of mothers who are learning to let go of the little things and focus on what they really want out of their career, their family and their life. Through their groundbreaking research, Becky Beaupre Gillespie and Hollee Schwartz Temple have discovered a paradigm shift in motherhood today: more and more mothers are losing their "never enough" attitude and embracing a Good Enough mindset to be happier, more confident and more successful. Filled with inspiring firsthand accounts from working mothers and drawn from the latest research, Good Enough Is the New Perfect is a true roadmap for the incredible balancing act we call motherhood.

Balancing It All: My Story of Juggling Priorities and Purpose


Candace Cameron Bure - 2013
    And it’s a question that women everywhere are asking themselves as we seek to balance all of our roles, responsibilities, and opportunities.So, how do we do it? Working since the age of 5, Candace has been in a balancing act for nearly her entire life. She is the first to tell you that there is no miracle formula for perfect execution in every area of your life, but there definitely are some lessons to be learned, lessons that come to life in Candace's story. Come along and dig into Candace’s story from her start in commercials, the balance-necessitating years on Full House, to adding on the roles of wife and mom while also returning to Hollywood. Insightful, funny, and poignant, Candace’s story will help you balance it all.

Boobin' All Day Boobin' All Night: A Gentle Approach To Sleep For Breastfeeding Families


Meg Nagle - 2015
    What can I do?”“My breastfed toddler continues to wake at night. Is this normal?” Our instincts are there, but for many of us, instincts are confusing and hard to trust at first. You want some more sleep and everyone seems to be telling you different things and offering contradicting advice.  This book is not a guide that gives you step by step instructions for getting your baby to sleep longer, because every baby is an individual, and every baby wakes for important reasons.  This book will help you learn how to trust your own instincts and follow the lead of your breastfed child… while offering different suggestions on how to get more sleep without having your baby cry, protest, or self-settle.In this boobin’ book, Meg includes… Why breastfed children wake frequently and why it is so important to answer their cries. How to get more sleep and feel more rested without doing cry-it-out or sleep training techniques. The results from her survey on night waking in breastfed children and the percentage of women who continue to wake to breastfeed. How to combine routines or rituals with breastfeeding on demand. Why it is not a bad habit to breastfeed your little one to sleep. How to find your inner marsupial and have a happier, more content baby. What to do when you are feeling overwhelmed and exhausted. Safe co-sleeping and bed-sharing guidelines, along with different sleeping arrangements you can try for your family. What to do when your breastfed child hates to sleep! The secrets to getting your baby to take longer naps…without being attached to the boob. Gentle night weaning tips and suggestions. What gut health has to do with breastfeeding and night-waking. ...and more.... Most babies just want a cuddle and a boob. This book is for those looking for gentle suggestions, an understanding of what is normal in breastfed babies and toddlers, and what to do when everyone says your way of mothering through breastfeeding (especially at night) is not best… when you know in your heart that it is.