What Parenting Books are the Most Helpful?

As my husband and I complete our first year as parents I find myself thinking about the journey thus far. Overall we have experienced great joy, yet we have at times struggled to make sense of everything that has happened and had our share of discussions as to how to deal with things. From breasfeeding, to getting our son to sleep in his own crib, to going back to work concerns, we have had plenty of discussions and many times where we could have used an expert's guide or manual.

I like to read research and a bunch of other people's ideas on how best to go about things, especially parenting, and then mix all the ideas up and come up with this collage of ideas that suits our needs at that particular time. As my husband and I are hands-on learning about parenting, I decided it was a good time to read, research, and create one of these conglomerate theories to, “make everything make sense”.

I started at the library in the parenting section, a section that has its own mini-sections, with parenting books on topics you hope you never have to deal with as a parent. As I skimmed over title after title I thought about whether I would actually have time to read any of these books, and about what other real life parents have read and gotten some wisdom from.

So, please share:
What is your favorite parenting book (title and author)?
How has it helped you as a parent?
How did you find time to read it? Just kidding!


Jen; Mother to a 1 year old boy, who makes regular trips to the library but rarely gets out of the children's section.

Family Faces Toddler Book

When my oldest child was born, she was only a few months old when her paternal grandparents headed to Florida for the winter. Before they left, I figured out a way to keep them in the baby's life while they were out of state.

I made a square board book with photos of our family members so that my daughter would get to know the faces of the most important people in her life--her family. My oldest liked her book so much, that when my son came along I made one for him too. Actually both of them still enjoy looking at those books today.

It was only natural that when my last child came along that I would make one for her as well. It's worked well for our kids so I thought I'd show you how I made them.














Things you need:
mat board (the kind used in framing--I got mine at Hobby Lobby)
photos of family members' faces
clear packing tape
markers
scissors
hole punch
binder ring

The amount of mat board you need will depend on how many family members you are putting in your book. I made my kids' books with photos of themselves, siblings, Mom and Dad, aunts and uncles and cousins. You also need to decide on a size. I made all of my kids' books 3 inches x 3 inches. It's a nice size, still small enough to tuck in the diaper bag yet big enough to hold a decent sized photo. If you don't have a template to trace and cut your squares from, perhaps you have a plastic storage container that is roughly the size you want that you can trace the lid for a pattern.














Once you have your pages cut you can decide if you want to cover the mat board with different papers. For my older kids' books I made each page a different color so that we could use the books to teach colors as well as for looking at family faces. With my youngest child's book I was too lazy for that step so I just used the mat boards as is.

Next cut your photos into squares that will fit on your pages with extra room around the edges. I cropped my photos in my photo editing software and printed them out the sizes I wanted on photo paper.

Position your photos with enough space beneath them to write the person's name and tack in place with a small piece of tape. Write the person's name underneath with marker. I added Uncle before my brother's name and Cousin before the cousins' names as well. I also made a front and back cover.















Decide on the order of your pages and stack them up. Punch a hole in the corner of each page with a hole punch taking care to leave enough space before the hole so that your book won't pull apart and making sure to punch the correct corner in each page.

Now you're ready to tape. I tried to make sure I didn't have any tape lines over the person's face and also made sure to cover every part of the page, including the sides. The first time I made one of these books I tried to use contact paper to make the book water-resistant but it didn't work as well as just using the clear packing tape.

Once you've taped all the pages, you'll need to punch the holes again. Then slide the binder ring through all the pages, close it up and you're done!

***Heather is mom to three children: a 7-year-old daughter, a 5-year-old son and a 20-month-old daughter.

Say hello but don’t get too close!

Today I had another parent ask me when its time to talk to your kids about stranger safety. I know from reading about the subject that the whole stranger safety campaign has been basically unsuccessful. It has succeeded in scaring the heck out of parents and studies show that kids will typically go with a stranger anyway if that person promises a puppy, says they need help or any other number of lures a creative, determined mind can generate.

Then there is the fact that most abductions or inappropriate touching of children is done by people who are not strangers- but family members or close friends. I often suggest to parents to teach their children that the parts of their bodies that are covered by underwear or bathing suits are private- and that you calmly teach them that its only mommy’s (or daddy’s , or the doctor’s or whoever is deemed a safe adult by the parent) job to take care of the private parts of their bodies.

This is such an important subject but I get sad when I know parents are worrying about their children in their own back (fenced-in) yard. I want to see a different world with kids feeling free to say hello to other people in the store and feeling safe walking down the block to their neighbor’s house. But children need to learn limits as well- like staying by dad’s side in a crowded place or not going through doors or into elevators without parents close by. How can kids become independent if parents have to hover?

Please weigh in on this topic.

Linda Thomas/PAIIR

Hot and Bothered

Somebody help! I remember crawling down the hallway practicing a fire escape plan with my son when he was little. Nowadays, the escape plan for my husband and I consists of a rope tied to the foot of our iron bed. Apparently we think we can rappel down the side of our two-story to the ground in the event of a fire-(read fear and chaos).

Once when our son was young and we tried to "escape" to the basement during bad weather we had to pry him out of his bed because he was so terrified. What would he have done in a fire?

What have others been told, practiced, prepared for or actually experienced when it comes to a house fire? I know many families with young children visit the fire station during fire safety week but how many can look those firemen in the eyes and tell them they have an escape plan that they have practiced? Let me know, what makes families actually make a fire escape plan and then practice it together? Does it take a personal "near miss"?

Linda Thomas/PAIIR

It's there if you take time to notice...

I recently took an infant class and was reminded by another participant to slow down and see the beauty in my child growing and changing each day. It’s a simple concept that requires little elaboration, rather reflection as to how you can selectively remove daily distractions to provide you with more time to slow down and really enjoy the mystifying beauty that lies within your child. What distractions are you dismissing in order to spend more time with your little ones? What have you been completely amazed by when you took the time to notice?


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Jen Skrukrud is a mother to an 8 month old man-on-the-move. She is savoring the snuggle time she has with her son each day.