Books That Shaped My Parenting

I'm not really much on creating a family mission statement, or a family mantra or a family agreed-upon-on constitution of basic rights to hang on our fridge and refer to every day.  While I do, in fact, enjoy creating daily routines and weekly rhythms and seasonal plans, anything more formal than that feels contrived and false.  I am a voracious reader, though, and books on parenting are always around, so I have ample opportunity to glean what I feel is right for my family.  I'm always looking for a better way to do things and I'm not afraid to pull something from this book, another thing from that friend, and a few more from dear old mom and put them all together.  Some people will follow one philosophy exclusively (attachment parenting comes to mind, or Montessori homeschooling for example) but I think I'm just a bit too lazy.  If something else works more effectively, why bother forcing something else to fit?  Obviously, following one person's idea of how a family should operate works for some people, and that's great - it would save a lot of research on the parents' part, wouldn't it?

 Of course, having said this, not all these books are going to work for your family, but I make a point of owning these books so I can reread them as often as I need (usually once or twice a year) in order to refresh my point of view and re-inspire my commitment.  As the needs of my family change, I go through the books again.  No only to pick up a few new ways to do something, but to recall the original reason I thought it was so good in the first place!  Parenting is a tough job.  We make so many decisions everyday that it's easy to lose sight of what we're doing.  Can't see the forest for the trees, so to speak.

I like to keep my end point in view, the finished product.  I enforce a limited TV time for a reason, I don't buy just anything for a reason, I allow my kids to play unsupervised for a reason and I put a lot of effort into planning certain activities for a reason.  What are my reasons?  Goodness, I don't always remember!  But at least I know where to look if I need to.  These books are my parenting map, on occasion, my lifeline.  It's nice to know that after a frustrating day, a stack of books my help me find a way to a better day tomorrow.

This is the list of books I re-read regularly (or a least skim on occasion!) for your own parenting journey - happy travels!

Bringing Up Geeks by Marybeth Hicks



Free-Range Kids: Giving Our Children the Freedom We Had Without Going Nuts with Worry by Lenore Skenazy



Last Child in the Woods-Revised: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv



Living Simply with Children: A Voluntary Simplicity Guide for Moms, Dads, and Kids Who Want to Reclaim the Bliss of Childhood and the Joy of Parenting by Marie Sherlock



Family Virtues Guide by Linda Popov




100 Ways to Build Self-Esteem and Teach Values by Diana Loomis




The Unplugged Play Book: The Essential Parents Guide by Bobbi Conner



Good and Angry: Exchanging Frustration for Character…in You and Your Kids! by Scott Turansky



Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child by Marc Weissbluth




That's a good chunk of the ones I use regularly.  I tend to look to a book for an answer to my problems, sometimes it works, other times I just get a new point of view or even just a little bit of inspiration to tackle the problem on my own way.  And you can see that they're not just for kids, some of them are for the moms, too!  Oooh, and there's one more I wanted to tell you about:  Steady Days.  It's written by a busy mom who also writes the Steady Mom blog (another great resource, by the way).  I don't actually own it, but I borrowed it from my library and it's on my to-buy list.  I was disappointed I missed her give away!  That's what happens, I suppose.

Any other recommendations?