Favorite Parenting Books

I literally had my nose in a book for the first 3 months of the Happy Buddy’s life!

I had so many worries – so many questions!  Books were a tremendous help during that new season of life, but they were also a tremendous hindrance!  Let me tell you why…

The Happy Buddy is unique and special. 🙂  He didn’t feel he needed to follow the formulas written in the dozens of baby books I read (Baby Wise, Secrets of the Baby Whisperer, What to Expect…).  Everything from nursing to gas issues to sleeping…  The more I read, the more I was discouraged/anxious because I felt like my child didn’t fit any of the baby book molds!

It took awhile, but I learned to just rely on the Lord and on one or two solid friends for advice/support.  I started to learn how to put down the books in exchange for mommy instincts – which turned out to be a lot more reliable than what I was reading! 🙂  God isn’t kidding around when He calls you to be a mom and He says that He equips you for it!

“He gently leads those that have young.” Isaiah 40:11

With that said, if God gives us a Happy Buddy #2, I am definitely going to spend more time enjoying him/her instead of crazily flipping pages for answers!

HoWeVeR…

God has gifted many people with wisdom and vision to write books for parents to use as tools in raising kids for His glory!!  I especially appreciate those that give me biblical advice on discipline, parental praying, and teaching my Happy Buddy about the One who created him. 🙂

Here are my 3 favorites…

This book is precious to me!  It was given to me when I was first starting out as a teacher and it helped me so much in the management of my 21 monkey precious students. 🙂

The author writes that rather than wanting to raise well-behaved children – because it makes us look good or because it gives us control – we want to raise children who love God so much that they want to live in obedience to Him (not us!).  It’s not so much the behavior as it is the attitude of our Happy Buddys’ hearts.

I tell the Happy Buddy all the time, “When you obey me, you are obeying God.  And obeying and loving God is the best thing we can do!”

Some days it’s hard with a toddler running around to have a ton of time for focused prayer – this flip calendar has been such a blessing!  I have it sitting on the bathroom counter next to the tub where the Happy Buddy takes his baths.  While he’s getting washed up, I pray the day’s verse or encouragement over him – out loud!  It has so helped me learn how to put every aspect and detail of the Happy Buddy’s life into God’s perfectly capable hands!

It’s a great gift idea!

This book is my favorite.

Susie Larson = my hero.

I personally believe that teaching children to be grateful is critical to their growth in the Lord (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  But most of all, we – as parents – must exemplify thankful hearts in our own lives!  You will find such hope, wisdom, and refreshment in the words of this book!

And, of course, the Bible is the GrEaTeSt parenting book EvEr written!

There you have it, Happy Home Friends!

The 3 tools I am using to help train my ‘baby.’ 🙂

Happy Parenting Book-ing!