Parenting

Mothering by the Book

September 17, 2022 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product (Mothering by the Book) through Nuts about Books. Affiliate Links will be used, thank you for your support of my blog, costs you nothing to do so, and is so much appreciated.

Mothering by the Book is a book of encouragement. Encouragement for moms in their parenting journey and encouragement to dig into the classics. Use the classic stories to help you create a new framework for thinking. Perhaps it’s time for another approach, you think? Look into the classics, see them in the light of God’s love, and see ways to parent better. 🙂

The Basic Details of Mothering by the Book

Mothering by the Book: The Power of Reading Aloud to Overcome Fear and Recapture Joy By Jennifer Pepito introduces us to using classical literature in raising our families. 240 pages, published by Bethany House Publishers, 14 chapters, book suggestions, verses to memorize, and study guide questions.

I am reviewing a softcover edition for Nuts About Books. This book falls into the Christian Parenting, Women’s issues, Motherhood, and Family and relationships sections of your library.

Chapter titles which other than the first one (Let Literature free us from fear) all start with “overcoming fear” , so they are as follows:

of being alone through journaling
the baby years by staying present
of failure by speaking life
of children leaving the faith through family identity
of failing our children by living for a greater purpose
of the future by not complaining
of not having enough by thankfulness
of not being able to managed by building good habits
by running after purpose
leading through forgiveness
by knowing scripture

And then closing with Sing to shut up Fear.

Digging Deeper

You know how you read some non-fiction books and every chapter is laid out exactly the same? Has it benefits right? This is exactly what you’ll find Mothering by the Book. You’ll find yourself doing study questions, memorizing scripture, as well as exploring new books on the topic at hand. So much reading and spending time in God’s word… it’s a good thing that!

The author tried to pick verses that went along with the chapter topic.

The font is easy to read and printed on a crisp white page. Frequently shoutouts in grey scale would occur, drawing our attention to important details.

The author makes it very easy to follow along with point form, headings, etc. She breaks each chapter down into digestible portions and speaks with a neighbourly tone.

You are meant to take your time with this mothering book. Taking your time to examine yourself AND do some reading out loud… to yourself and/or to your family. Each chapter starts with a quote from a classic book you are encouraged to read.

So go ahead, set about reading Little Britches, or Baby, or Cheaper by the Dozen. Read them, get involved with them, but just read. Connect again to interesting characters and talk about them with your family and learn important life lessons from the books your read. Be seeking for good books to read, whether it’s the one Ms. Pepito recommends or others. Reading opens up new ideas and paths for us, shouldn’t we be reaching for them?

Should you read it?

The author’s goal is simple. She wants us to stop being afraid by giving us an alternate behaviour to practice. Don’t want to be a grumble? Find things to be thankful for! Don’t want your family to have no purpose in life? Show them you have a greater purpose….. serving the Lord.

Fear does not need to stop us in our tracks. We need to look for away around it. The author found this as she dug through the classics she read aloud to her family. So perhaps… you might too. Look to the classics to find answers to some of your fears. Memorize scriptures so you have words to put to what you see God doing and what he wants you to become. Fear less… read more!

Find some encouragement to do so in Mothering by the Book.

Did I find it helpful on my parenting journey? Not really, my lad is almost an adult now. And we have always read tons of books and talked about them. But it all makes sense right? Dealing with fear or insecurity… Learn from those who have gone on before and go to the scriptures.

Other parenting books you might enjoy

Over the years I’ve reviewed other parenting books.

Need Help Discipling Children?

August 4, 2021 By Annette1 2 Comments

Disclosure: I received this complimentary product through the Homeschool Review Crew.

Need to make a change in how you are discipling your children? Bethany House Publishers along with Danika Cooley has come out with a really helpful Christian parenting/discipling book. A book that is full of encouragement and teaching about why discipling our children is SO very important. I didn’t think I needed to make any changes, and yet I found my self both convicted and compelled to make change. Come along and discover why eh? Help Your Kids Learn & Love the Bible will help parents who need help discipling children.

What am I reviewing?

I received a trade paperback copy of Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible written by Danika Cooley and published by Bethany House Publishers. A short, but weighty read at 198 pages. You may find yourself reading it straight through, or doing as I did, and reading in short bursts and then pondering. Her goal, to encourage parents in diving into God’s word together with their children. Helping children to see the God of the bible in the words that he has given us and how that then impacts our lives. Simple enough eh? You’d be surprised. 🙂

You’ll find a solidly constructed read of a size easily tucked into a purse, or to take along to someone’s house to share with them. One that will not take up a huge amount of room on your bedside table as you take in the encouragement and advice that Ms. Cooley offers. Honestly, if you want to develop confidence that YOU can disciple YOUR OWN children? You’ll develop that confidence using the advice Ms. Cooley offers.

Because it can be challenging asking for assistance when you help discipling children, I want to tell you about Danika Cooley’s new book Help Your Kids Learn and Love the Bible from Bethany House Publishers.

Learning the details that will help discipling children

First off, the author Danika Cooley.

I’ve long known of her heart for discipling children. She creates resources like the Bible Road trip, sermon notebooks and various other resources. You’ll find her over on her blog Thinking Kids frequently, helping parents find ways to better disciple their children.

On to the book

The specific book I am reviewing today is entitled Help your kids learn & love the BIBLE. Three parts, eleven chapters.

Part One: You’re the Leader

Making the bible approachable for your kids
A good start to a strong finish
Finding time in an age of hustle

Part Two: Faithful Reading

Who Wrote this thing, Anyway?
Keep the message in view
A library of Books
Profitable discussion

Part Three: A daily Walk

Reading the word together
Hide the word in your Child’s heart
Praying the word together
Study the word when you’re not feeling it

You will also find an introduction, a conclusion, various notes and works consulted.

You’ll find when you pick up this help for discipling children that there are lots of headers. Sections are short and easily digestable. The headers accurately reflect what will be discussed in the following paragraphs.

There is little to no adornment, simple chapter headings and good use of white space without being wasteful. It feels like a nice book to read. Comfortable on older eyes too! 🙂

What did I discover?

Well, our family has done a number of things over the years. Various picture books, story book bibles, devotions, family studies etc. We done archaelogical studies where we unearthed the bible. The lad has gone to Cadets and Youth group. He’s been well exposed to studies about the word of God. These are all part of discipling our children into the faith. This I knew and wasn’t really surprised at. 🙂

I was delighted to discover a book full of encouragement written in a friendly tone. It’s rather like sitting down with Ms. Cooley and having a chat about how to make God real to your children.

What I was convicted of?

Just reading God’s word. Simple eh? Just letting God’s word stand alone. Had I ever done that before? In my journey of discipling my son have I simply just read the bible with him?

Doesn’t have to be big or profound, but God’s word tells us it will never go out empty, so just taking time to read a chapter or two of God’s word daily (or as often as you remember to do so) matters. Just read God’s word.

Then, be open to questions and discussion. To a lad saying “I want to read that myself”.

As Danika says “The Bible is necessary for salvation. It is a gift to us that “the Lord has made known his salvation; he has revealed his righteous in the sight of the nations.” Without the special revelation the Lord has given us through his Word, we are without knowledge of our Saviour.” (p 86)

So what we’ve done? We’ve started reading the book of Matthew. I thought about starting in Genesis but the lad and I are going through A Stranger on the Road to Emmaus together and I didn’t want to replicate our reading. Are we doing it perfectly? NOPE. We’ve done three days in a row and we’ve skipped an entire week, but it’s easy enough to just book mark a chapter and then just read the next one. It’s hard when you have a working household.

Information I really appreciated

Throughout Help your kids to Learn & Love the Bible you will find help in discipling your children. From questions you can help them ask, to reminding them to read the bible in context, and to think about how does this reading further the story of God’s plan of salvation. Her concrete examples and encouragement make this a tome well worth reading.

I cannot tell you tell how much I love how Ms Cooley was persistent in reminding us to let God tell his own story. To not make stories become a moral talking point, or make a history merely a listing off of dates and activities. THIS is God’s word, his story to his people, that lays out his plan of salvation. At times she drove me to the bible to consider her words and any “moralizing” I may have done in the past. How could I see God at work in the story of Esther?

Need help discipling children : Ideas to make history real

One of the other things I loved was how Ms. Cooley wants us to help make history come alive for our children. And how we can help our teens explore different approaches to scriptural ideas. How can you help your children understand Egyptian hierarchy, slavery, the differences between goats and sheep, the long hours of a fisherman, and other biblical settings? When God tells us to consider the flowers of the field can you go out and see the beauty he has provided us with? Maybe even take the time to preserve some of it? Do a fashion course as well? How can you make God’s plan of salvation come alive? What an encouragement to think of such things eh?

Social Media Presence

I am sharing both the links for Bethany House Publishers and the author, Danika Cooley, for you to share and follow.

Bethany House Publishers

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BHPnonfiction
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bethany_house
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bethany_house_nonfiction/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/bethanyhouse
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/bethanyhouse

Danika Cooley

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DanikaCooleyAuthor
Twitter: https://twitter.com/DanikaCooley
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/danikacooleyauthor
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/danikacooley/_created/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/DanikaCooley

#hsreviews #helpyourkidslearnandlovethebible #intentionalhomeschooling

Read the Reviews!

32 members of the Homeschool Review Crew took the time to read Danika’s book. I invite you to check them out.

Making an Adult

June 28, 2021 By Annette1 8 Comments

The crew gave a challenge that I’ve been pondering for most of a month now… writing lists. It got me thinking along different lines but nothing really resonated with me. I finally came up with a pre-adulting list, or perhaps a better way of saying that is Making an Adult. Skills that I want my son to know before he leaves the house as an adult. Skills he should be practicing now before he gets out on his own.

Ideas that I tested out and rejected?

Organization by writing out lists. I’ve been doing that a bit lately what with my part-time job. It’s helping me to not forget items that need doing.

Schedules? I thought about doing this for quite a while. We don’t really follow a schedule in our household but we do have routines, and I’ve tried a number of schedules over the years. In August I’m going to be doing a day in the life post and I’ll talk about our routines then. No need to have it twice in two months right?

Then I considered how to help a lad keep organized and remembering tasks that he has to complete. Does this require lists to keep or something else? I’d tell you but that would ruin the surprise later in August. 🙂

Four Specific Skill Areas

I’ve written the past about specific skills that dads teach teens, but the skills I am wanting to address are skills that predominately I see myself as teaching as a mom. They are skills that any parent or grandparent can teach as well. I suppose you could say, these skills are closer to my heart and my mental outlook.

How to manage a budget.

I came into a marriage with a hubby who really didn’t know the ins and outs of managing a budget or planning for the future. Granted, I was NOT taught these skills as I was maturing, so I’ve had to work to develop the skills I have, and I’ve taught my hubby a few of them along the way. I’ve made some BAD financial decisions myself and felt the fall out for too long. I’d rather reduce some of the potential pitfalls for my lad if I can.

How to clean the house.

I AM NOT a great housekeeper but I know what needs doing and how to do it. (thanks mom!) I tend to find ANYTHING other to do than clean the house. It’s good that I have a lad I can pass along some of these duties too eh? 🙂 Seriously though, we share the workload. I’ll clean stuff off the stairs.. he’ll wipe the stairs down. Next month we reverse it. We do this for most cleaning tasks. That way neither one of us is completely stuck with a job we’d rather not be doing, and it’s shared labour. He, like hubby, would rather vacuum floors than sweep them, so I’ve taught him the joy of a small sweep brush and dustpan for areas vacuums don’t reach well. Seeing and doing is the best teacher don’t you think?

How to cook a meal and how to plan ahead for what you are making!

My son’s job? Sundays are MY day off cooking. If I ever HAVE to cook I’m selfish and plan meals around what I like. Sometimes this means the guys get to experience new tastes and be surprised. The lad though is supposed to cook on Sundays, and he can’t just do easy meals. He occasionally gets a Sunday off if we are out and about, or he breaks an arm or life just kinda happens. We aren’t rigid by no means. Currently, he makes easy meals two out of four Sundays. The rest of the time he’s learning skills such as substitution (when he fails to plan ahead), how recipes are often suggestions and guidelines rather than fixed rules, and various cooking terms. Sometimes it would be easier for me to do the cooking but it’s great for him to develop skills.

Doing a job well even if it’s not perfect.

I am a perfectionist. It took me a LONG time to realize this and it stopped me from doing a lot of things if whatever I was doing didn’t turn out the way I’d envisioned. It mentally stopped me in my tracks… “if I can’t do it right what’s the point? I guess I’m just a failure all round”. Guess who else is a perfectionist? YUP! That lad of mine. As soon as I stop it stopping him in his tracks I taught him what took me too long to learn. Is what you did a good job? Did you give it a good effort? Will it pass muster for most folks? Be happy with what you’ve done. Have your goal in mind, push for it, but if you don’t make it.. be happy with your accomplishment. Being perfect is HARD, be very good… that’s better and easier. The pressure eased. A smiling lad again is a very good thing. 🙂

Applying Worldview to Life in Making an Adult

I raised my lad with a Christian Worldview. We apply faith to how we live our lives. Faith is why I volunteer, faith is why I care for others, faith impacts how I view others. My faith filter comes through the bible.

My son admittedly is struggling with that right now. His very scientific mindset has him not quite seeing how God could fit into the picture. He’s willing to engage in discussion though, so struggles can happen right? So right now, as I present my Christian Worldview, I am learning to ask him questions so he can see how his worldview impacts his thinking processes. And how, as he applies that thinking process how it affects how he acts and interacts with the world around him.

All of this is important in helping him become the adult he is meant to be. My prayer is that he’ll come out on the other side truly seeing who God is and why God matters to his life, learning and way to live.

The whole goal of course, along with the myriad of other skills he needs to develop, is making an adult that anyone would be glad to know and work with. This adult will have a consistent worldview with how he lives.

June 2021 Social Media Challenge Graphic

Dads Teach Teens Important Skills

June 14, 2021 By Annette1 2 Comments

The TOS crew has given us a challenge to do a post about fathers. I have to admit, this is a tough one for me. Don’t misunderstand me, I loved my dad, but we didn’t have the easiest relationship. Therefore when I think of dads, that relational difficulty sometimes gets in the way. I got to thinking though about how my dad affected me as a teen, and what lessons he taught me in those important years. Dads are so important in the lives of teens, we mustn’t forget that! Dads teach teens important skills!

Dad taught me

Devotion to God doesn’t have to be perfect. My dad had a firm faith in the Lord but it wasn’t a perfect faith and he let his children know that. He served the Lord faithfully, but admittedly was short-tempered, lacking in patience, and more. YET through that… he served the Lord and taught us how to pray.
To parent better than you were parented. My dad did not have a good upbringing. Some would call it abusive. He made a CHOICE that he would not raise his children the way he was. The older I got the more understand the choices he made. As I have parented my son I have shown him more grace and patience than I was shown as a child growing up. In turn, I hope that my son will meld discipline and grace better than I did, with I hope, my eventual grandchildren. This is a biblical principle as well as seen in Deuteronomy 5.
Work hard! At whatever it is that you do … do it well and work hard to accomplish the tasks set before you. It doesn’t matter the job you do as long as you do it well.
Be kind to the critters under your care. Try to not be impatient with them, be careful with pregnant animals, be mindful of bulls as they can do serious damage, feed the best food you can, and don’t make your animals into soft pets or they will be useless as working animals.

You see, I saw my dad doing all this as a child, but as a teen is when it really started to impact me. As I starting putting all the pieces together and seeing the choices he made, it made an impact. Did it make our relationship easier? No. In fact we went through tough years, but in the end we came out okay.

But you know what?

Teens do this. They look at their parents critically during their teens years. They analyze how they were parented, they learn to ask questions, and formulate ideas for their future. Teens examine, it seems, everything as they push toward being adults. Dads help in this process as they answer their sons questions and show they how to be stand-up people. How to live out their faith and how to care for those that surround you. Even those men of few words! 🙂

It got me to thinking, what things are there for dads teach their teens?

Additional Dad taught Skills

How to fix things, or to jury-rig a solution, or simply how to use tools.
Confidence in one’s abilities
Being fiscally responsible.
The importance of a firm handshake
Make plans, double-check them, follow through. Be prepared for glitches along the way.
Have a reputation worth having. If you say you’ll do something, follow through. Be honest in your dealings.
Learn the basics of taking care of your automobile. Changing the oil, driving a stick shift and learning what different noises a car makes and what they mean.
Learn the fundamentals of math, it’ll serve you well in every aspect of life.
Be willing to change your mind if the situation warrants it.

NOW… Lest anyone take offense! Moms have a big role in raising their teens as well and can teach all these skill sets as well… but dads do it in their own way don’t they? And sometimes, we need each other to reinforce the behaviours needed right? Two examples are better than one eh? 🙂 Besides… we don’t all have the same set of skills, so having help, broadens the horizons of these pre-adults and that’s not a bad thing right?

Can you think of anything that I missed? Dads teach teens important skills… but I couldn’t possibly have thought of them all. What skills did you learn from your Father? What skills do you see your spouse teaching your teenagers?

A Forest of Trees

April 26, 2021 By Annette1 2 Comments

Thinking about this prompt… a forest of trees. I find it spurring on some questions for me. Can you have a forest without trees? How many trees make up a forest? What exactly is a forest … is it just a bunch of trees? And if it’s just a bunch of trees… what number do you need to make a forest? Then I have to consider what I should write about. Should I write about nature schooling? Or even forest school? Perhaps I should do links to various “learn a tree” unit studies? Perhaps I should do a post teaching about Trees of Ontario? I suppose in some ways the sky is the limit, isn’t it? Makes me curious what others members of the crew will do. In the end, I think I’ll just let the muse take me where it will.

Amazon affiliate links used in this post, helps to support my blog, no extra cost to you.

Problems in definition of a forest

One of the problems folks have in conservatory work is that a forest is not a defined number of trees. We know that it’s more than three, but how many more? Is a forest JUST trees? Not really, Instead, it’s a mixed biome with flowers, ferns, mushrooms, critters, bushes, shrubs and trees. In fact, the smallest noted forest is the Kakamega forest is just under 90 square miles whereas the largest forest spans 2.2 million square miles as the Amazon Rainforest. In Canada, the Boreal Forest Region covers 270 million hectares, and spans the length of our country. This doesn’t really answer the question though, of when does a bush become a forest. 90 Square miles is quite the plot of land, so can a forest only reaching 70 square miles be considered a forest? Even 20 square miles seems a forest made…. or even 10!

Locally we have a dump and surrounding it a tract of forest…. which we call a swamp as well, and it doesn’t cover 10 square miles. But when you walk through it, its not small like a woodlot would be, it’s foresty for lack of a better word.

Small groups of trees go by such names as wood, copse, grove, orchard, stand, bush, woods, thicket, woodland, brake, trees, growth, or cover. Smaller woodlots can give us a glimpse into the large clime of a forest, giving a more manageable microcosm to explore.

person walking between green forest trees — Photo by Luis del Río on Pexels.com

Can A Bush Help us See a Forest?

As a child, I spent hours in our bush. Listening to birds, finding flowers, observing the seasons through the trees, fishing in our pond, and watching the local wildlife. A love of nature was thoroughly installed into my bones. 🙂

But you know what happened the first time I walked in a true forest? The wind whistling through all those TALL TALL trees…it spooked the very heart of me. So totally unexpected. Though I’d been through our bush on windy days and got a glimpse of wind through trees… the vastness of tall trees swaying and whistling in the wind was unexpected. So as much as a bush or woodlot can give a glimpse of a forest… it doesn’t give the whole picture.

So as much as a woodlot, bush, or grove of trees can give you an idea of a forest, does it really give you a solid knowledge of the vastness and breadth of a forest?

When we go camping we like to go for hikes. This past year I mildly spooked my fellows as I got myself a bit turned around in a forest and it took some thinking (and I’m not good with knowing my east from my south) and a good couple of hours walking, to get myself home again. I just figured “I’m in big ole’ park, I know the lake is THERE so I should start seeing pointers for a walking trail somewhere”. And I did and all was good… but it wasn’t a walk in the park and kinda stupid on my part. Trees were literally everywhere. It would have been so easy to have gotten completely turned around and gotten myself into difficulty.

Parallels Drawn

Since I am raising a child who is asking questions about God when I’m prompted to look deeper into a detail, I need to consider it. I see parallels here between a bush and a forest, between child and teenager. Between learning with a teen, and seeing God more clearly.

We’re told in scriptures that we see now as in a glass dimly. We can read about it in 1 Corinthians 13

⁸Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹For we know in part and we prophesy in part, ¹⁰but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. ¹¹When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. ¹²For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.

red trees — Photo by Artem Saranin on Pexels.com

Bush or Forest?

You see…. I never knew what a forest truly was until I walked through one. I’d never really thought about how long you could walk through one without finding an end. Forests require trails through them so you can find your way out of them again! Forests require you to have a plan and the smartness of telling people where you are at!

A bush or woodlot… it might take you a bit of time to make your way through it, but you can eventually find your way out (as long as you keep your head about you and have some woodcraft skills). They generally aren’t big enough to cause serious alarm if you get misdirected a bit.

To make our way through a forest you need to know excellent woodcraft and wildlife skills. You need to know how to navigate the hidden and known pathways. Being safe is harder in forest than in a woodlot. Knowing how to get through a bush will HELP you in learning how to get through a forest. It can.

Does Childhood Help Prepare for Teenage Years?

As I further consider the difference between a bush and a forest, and how one is kinda like a dim version of the other. I kinda wonder if God allows us those childhood years to help us prepare for the teenage ones? What do you think?

I think of the relationships we build through childhood and how it helps us to understand our youngsters. This understanding helps navigate the teenage years better don’t you think? These teenage years force us to develop skills in clear communication, in life skill teaching, and in understanding matters of faith.

Sometimes we need to remember we don’t have to have all the answers… AND our teens don’t have to have all the answers or all the questions yet. SOMETIMES our job is merely to ask questions and give them room to think. Or perhaps to spur on their thinking so they can ask questions not just of their parents, but of others that are placed in their lives.

The teenage years are fraught with emotions and hormones, laughter and maturity, new skills and a thousand new questions. It’s like a forest with tall trees and no easy way through them at times. And just like in a forest you don’t know if you’ll meet a bear or a pack of wolves, in the teenage years, you don’t know what ideas will grab a young person’s mind (and possibly their heart). Talk with teens, try to understand their hearts and minds. Try to prepare them for hard questions and harder answers, but really, help them keep their hearts soft and flexible. Give your teens the room they need to think, feel and become the person they’re supposed to be.

question mark illustration — Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

I don’t have all the answers

But I am learning. I’m learning to say “I don’t know, let’s figure that out together”. I’m learning to simply ask questions and to leave them open. A parent doesn’t always have to know their teen’s response to a question. Sometimes a question just needs to sit. My longing is that we’ll learn to ask better questions of each other, and better questions of God himself. To see his word as truly the answer to those big questions.

Perhaps, as you navigate your teenagers and their questing hearts, you’ll discover some questions I haven’t thought to ask, and you’ll help me discover answers, and I can help you too? What do you think?

Can this forest of trees of our teenager’s lives… be a dim mirror that helps us to see the forest of God’s truths more clearly? It’s teaching me a lot for sure! I guess my question is… how do we help our teens? How do we walk it in community with them giving them a safe place to ask questions? To provide them with the knowledge it’s okay to not have all the answers as long as you keep looking for them?

You Are Captivating

January 29, 2020 By Annette1 Leave a Comment

Hey, since I am temporarily out of review books, I thought I would tell you about an encouraging book called You are Captivating that I just finished reading. This is a short book that I have had forever and just never gotten around to reading. I’m trying to remember where and when I got it but simply can’t remember. It was a good little read and so I thought I’d tell you about it.

You see I’ve been reading on facebook lately. Mommas who are struggling with being mommas. Caring for their littles, finding themselves run down and a bit out of sorts. Wondering if they are failing their children.

You are Captivating is an encouragement to mommas. It is! This 55 page book celebrates all that goes into a mother’s heart.

Hey, since I am temporarily out of review books, I thought I would tell you about an encouraging book called

A devotional for momma’s

Stasi Eldredge divided this devotional for a mother’s heart into 15 short chapters. Starting off with a chapter on the high and holy calling of motherhood, traipsing through chapters on how God sees motherhood and how to nuture your heart. She closes the book with a mother’s prayer.

Stasi encourages us to guard our hearts well. She writes “It is the fountainhead of our faith, our hope, and of course, our love. This ‘well-spring of life’ within us is the very essence of our existence, the center of our being.”

And so she leads us into how we can guard our hearts in the midst of wiping, caring, holding, listening, minding, and disciplining those that God has brought under our care.

You can easily read You are Captivating in the course of an afternoon, or take your time and read one chapter a day, a half month of remembering the value to being a mom.

Between Mom and Me

May 4, 2019 By Annette1 1 Comment

Sometimes I wish my lad was still a younger version of himself. 🙂 I miss some of the things we did together when he was young, sharing art projects, reading all kinds of literature together, and just being silly. It was good you know? I’m not saying it’s not good now, just sometimes… sometimes I long for those younger days. 🙂 IF he was younger, Between Mom and Me: A mother & son keepsake journal would be a perfect book for us.

What I am Reviewing

Between Mom and Me: A mother & son keepsake journal.
Katie Clemons
Series: Let’s Celebrate Your Story
Sourcebooks Jabberwocky
144 pages, trade paperback, 8-13 years
Journal, family, mother, son, family connections
Reviewed for Raincoast Books.

A one-of-a-kind journal for the mother & son who crave a rule-free, creative way to connect with each other.
This engaging prompt journal is the perfect tool to build mother-son relationships. Kids can record memories, swap stories, compare perspectives, and explore common and unique interests with their moms! Interactive lists and letters back and forth invite both mom and son to reflect, write, and doodle about topics timely to their lives as kids, build self-confidence, and improve their penmanship.

What You Get:

I have to admit, I think it’s funny. The cover tells me that there’s no rules, and yet the start of the book has.. Rules! Granted, Mom and son get to make up their own rules, but rules are still there. 🙂

132 pages of this 144 page journal are devoted to pages for mom and son to work on. Pages vary drawing, writing, fill in the blanks, lists and colouring. Most of the pages are simply conversations. Mom and son getting to know each other better.

Could you have conversations without this journal? For sure, but sometimes having an outside influence helps you to have conversations you might not otherwise have. Talk about achievements, your history, surprise questions, money, puberty, wishes and dreams, school, love and more.

A variety of shapes and spaces to fill in. Conversation bubbles, frames and clouds. I really like how they break up the spaces and add a lot of variety.

My Recommendation

I really like the idea of this journal. I have a journal I started talking about me and my thoughts for the lad. Gramma started one for him. I would be fun to do one with the lad, as a keepsake for when he is older. BUT at age 13 he has zero interest in such things. To that end I think the age range for Between Mom & Me is a too broad. My son thinks it would be good for 7-10 year olds, maybe up to age 11. I agree with him.

I love the variation of topics and the encouragement to conversation provided. So many memories could be made.. or encouraged as you work your way through. Not every page would suit every mom/son combination, but most pages would be excellent.