Great Resources for Parents

I'm so excited about my new books. Especially after my rough evening with the kids (see yesterday's post!)

I've always been a Josh Harris fan, so of course I love this book by his father, illustrated by him when he was 18. My mom had the 21 Rules on our fridge during my teen years and I think they are great! We've already started memorizing them and coloring the pages and talking about them.

The book, Hints on Child Training is a good one for me. I enjoy hearing the wisdom of older people who have been there and done it and this guy is great! H. Clay Trumbull is the great-grandfather of Elisabeth Elliot, and he was an evangelist, a Civil War chaplain, a biblical archaeologist, and Sunday school pioneer who raised 8 children of his own. He wrote this book in 1890 but it's still practical for today. I was blown away by his chapter on denying kids things because he was talking about how many things kids "nowadays" are given and how many toys they have and how many are over-indulged. I thought, "Man, what if he could see our kids in 2008!" I haven't read all of it, but I have been especially encouraged in giving my child more choices, never scolding or yelling, and one of the best points I've read so far is not trying to over-do it. I think sometimes, especially when I'm with people I want to impress or people I'm sensitive around (like in-laws) I try to over-correct and get super uptight about making sure my kids are "perfect" or that everyone thinks I'm doing a great job of parenting. I loved how Mr. Trumbull emphasized sometimes letting the child alone and not being overly conscientious at parenting, like many in our culture today seem to be. Another great point he had was not to break the child's spirit. I've seen so many hard-core books on child discipline in Christian circles and this chapter really challenged me and helped me to see that it's not about forcing them to my will all the time, but training them to choose what is right.

Mommy Teach Me is a book for moms of preschoolers and I'm anxious to read it!

This book, published by Vision Forum, is a good storybook for children, emphasizing the alphabet and stories about Christian character.