Discover Your Personal Parenting Style Most parenting books present a cookie-cutter approach--which may or may not apply to all personalities and family dynamics. Mothering From Scratch shows mothers how to develop their own style that helps them be the best mom for their kids and restores the joy of mothering. Full of solid biblical truth, this book encourages moms to • explore their personalities and examine their strengths and weaknesses in order to find what works for them • tap into the resources surrounding them and get mentoring and support from other moms • push past the fear of change or doing it wrong and allow room for grace in their mothering Melinda Means and Kathleen Helgemo provide a flexible, customizable approach to help moms discover their optimal parenting style.

In an ideal world, mothers would have time to hand-sew their kids' costumes for the school play, prepare all-organic meals, and volunteer in the classroom at the drop of a hat. In reality, most moms have to settle for plopping their little ones in front of SpongeBob so that they can prepare yet another chicken nugget-based dinner, guiltily convinced they're falling down on the job. In Good-Enough Mother, René Syler pulls back the curtain to reveal the truth about modern mothering and reassure time-stressed moms that even if their children are strangers to made-from-scratch cookies, they can emerge as happy, well-adjusted, fully functioning members of society. Mother to two great kids of her own, Syler explains how she learned to chuck perfection for practicality -- in short, how she became a Good-Enough Mother. She shows other women seeking to balance family, work, and some semblance of a personal life how to happily join the ranks of Good-Enough Mothers, who occasionally serve breakfast for dinner yet give their children plenty of what really matters -- love, time, and support. Each essay provides welcome empathy and sage advice on navigating life's different obstacles, whether it's dealing with annoying Supermoms, bluffing through a third grader's math homework, or coping with the words that strike terror into every parent's heart ("Your son's teacher on line one"). Offering real wisdom tempered with humor and warmth, Good-Enough Mother will have every modern mom laughing in relief and recognition.

Do you feel like you’re the only mom who serves store-bought birthday treats, dreads school plays, and misses the days of going to the bathroom by herself? unNatural Mom gives you permission to say that mothering doesn’t always come naturally to you. Parenting expert and self-proclaimed unnatural mom Hettie Brittz helps you… Recognize how unrealistic our culture’s standards of mothering are Move beyond the myths of “supermom” Complete the Parenting Style Assessment to determine your own parenting style Understand and forgive the mothers who hurt you Embrace your capabilities as well as your challenges Come find new hope in discovering that every mother has unique gifts. In Christ, the “unnatural” mom becomes the supernatural mom who is just right for her family!

Moms feel guilty about everything... They think they're not doing enough for themselves, for their children and for their spouses. They question their decisions about working vs. staying at home. They agonize over keeping up with housework, struggle in their relationship with their husband, wrestle with negative feelings about their children from time to time and worry that they don't measure up to their own or others' expectations. In short, feeling guilty is pervasive among mothers; it just seems to come with the territory. Motherhood without Guilt uses a question-and-answer format to address all the issues that cause a mother to feel bad about her mothering, and shows how to: --Reconcile working vs. staying at home --Be emotionally available to your kids in just the right way --Take good care of yourself, too --Create partnership in parenting with your husband --Nurture friendships and get support from others Related title: The New Mom's Companion 1-4022-0014-5

"I want you to be fully present in your own life, a change agent who is not afraid to dare to be who you are. I wonder though, my dear sweet child, how I can mother you when I have not been able to mother myself? How can I give you the tools to survive this brutal world when I have not been able to craft these tools to save myself? How can I stand up for you when my whole life has been spent trying so hard to stand up for myself? I am not perfect. I am flawed. I am pregnant. And in nine months, I will be your mother." And so begins Karsonya Wise Whitehead's first letter to her oldest son. For the past 14 years, she has written letters, poems, notes, and words of inspiration to her two boys, Kofi Elijah and Amir Elisha. She has documented everything from their first steps to their first encounter with racism; from their questions about race to their questions about falling in love. She has borne witness to their tears of joy and pain, their cries of frustration and discovery, and the difficulties that they have encountered growing up black and male. Since this is her love for them poured out onto the page, she chose to publish them exactly as they were written-without any edits or corrections. "Letters to My Black Sons" traces her (and her husband's) journey to try and raise happy and healthy black boys in a post-racial America.

Motherhood has never been so dissected, deconstructed and discussed. Part memoir, part rant, part laugh-out-loud, 'How to Really be a Mother' is ready to reclaim motherhood for modern mothers everywhere.

Who was your mother before she was a mother? Essays and photos from Brit Bennett, Jennifer Egan, Danzy Senna, Laura Lippman, Jia Tolentino, and many more. In this remarkable collection, New York Times–bestselling novelist Edan Lepucki gathers more than sixty original essays and favorite photographs to explore this question. The daughters in Mothers Before are writers and poets, artists and teachers, and the images and stories they share reveal the lives of women in ways that are vulnerable and true, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, and always moving. Contributors include: Brit Bennett * Jennine Capó Crucet * Jennifer Egan * Angela Garbes * Annabeth Gish * Alison Roman * Lisa See * Danzy Senna * Dana Spiotta * Lan Samantha Chang * Laura Lippman * Jia Tolentino * Tiffany Nguyen * Charmaine Craig * Maya Ramakrishnan * Eirene Donohue * and many others