What little boys are made of...

I try to be very honest in my book reviews, so here is my first admission about this book. I didn't like it--at first. But, by the end, I was laughing and enjoying my time reading this book.

How Do You Tuck in a Superhero? Is a collection of short stories (each about the length of a newspaper column). Rachel Balducci is the mother of 5 boys (with another little one expected any day now) . Her book is about raising boys--each story is about one of the joys or funny stories that she experienced as the mother of these boys.

I am the mom of 2 girls--very girly girls and only 1 boy--who happens to be a boy's boy. As I listen to friends who have all boys, I realize that it is a very different world than the one I live in. My girls are pretty quiet, though high maintenance as girls tend to be. My son is one of those that climbs on everything and gives me at least one heart attack a month. I'm also a pretty structured mom. We don't do junk food and the kids don't get a lot of desserts. It's one of those things my husband and I feel convicted about for our kids.

Knowing those things about me will help me explain why my style of parenting is different than this author's. Because Rachel Balducci's style of parenting is so different than mine, I struggled to find the first few stories funny. I found myself cringing and simply not laughing as I know she hoped the reader would do. But, I pressed on as I'm obligated to do when I read and review a book.

I'm glad I did. Only a few stories later, I began to laugh and smile. And through the rest of the book, I started to appreciate our differences as parents and enjoy her stories as I would those that my friends tell me about their children. That night, my husband and I had a rough dinner with our middle daughter and I walked downstairs to where my husband and older daughter were. I pulled out the book and began to read him the short anecdotes that the author wrote amidst the other stories. We both started to laugh and enjoyed a much needed break filled with laughter from the stresses of parenting. For that break, I am very thankful for this book.

Lastly, I read him her story about her sons' and husband's phone allergy. My husband suffers from the same allergy. I've tried for the past 9 years to explain it to friends and family, but I think I'm going to simply start telling them that he has a phone allergy.

Here is a good quote "I think I have loosened the leash a bit. The old me, the mother I was before I had children, wouldn't have allowed some of the things I allow now. Not necessarily with what shows we watch or what language we use--there are plenty of issues I stand firm on.

The changes are centered more on the adventures I permit my boys to have. When we go to the ocean, I don't want them to go past their ankles, but it cannot always be that way.

As they grow and bloom and spread their wings, I have to do the same. I ahve to keep up with them, while allowing them to be who God created them to be." p. 190 from How Do You Tuck in a Superhero?

I agree. I'm working on protecting my children, yet letting them spread their wings at the same time.

In her book, Rachel Balducci expresses so many of the things that all of us, I think, realize to be the blessings of being a mom--whether you have boys or girls. The very end of her last story is one that I won't forget. But, I don't want to share it in this review and ruin it for you--I hope you'll read it for yourself =)

Please note that I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from Revell books.

Missing Pieces

The other day I was discussing a book with my mom and explaining to her my concern about how "blame" is cast upon the child in the story. My mom commented about how deeply I read and consider what is written. Sometimes I wonder if I go overboard. Am I questioning too much? Am I overreacting? Why am I reacting this way? I come back to knowing that God wired me this way. But, I also reflect on how God has guided my path through the maze of books I've read over the past few years and what I've learned from the books themselves and from reading them. Recently, I read a book that troubled me. The book I finished reading was Guiltless Living by Ginger Hubbard. When I began reading it, I found myself puzzled and then disconcerted. And in the end, I cried. But, I cried for a different reason than one might suspect. I'd like to explain. I did not read Ms. Hubbard's previous book “ Don't Make Me Count to Three ”, but I knew from f...

listening or rather not listening to directions...

This week has been very eye opening. I am observing and noticing what I need to learn in order to be a better homeschooling mom and teacher and what my daughter needs to learn to be a good homeschooling student. My weakness when I was a teacher in a first grade classroom was not understanding how small concepts had to be broken down--and I lost my patience very quickly. This week, in particular today, I am seeing how detailed my directions need to be. I am going to be working very consciously and deliberately on this. On the other hand, I realized that my daughter does not listen! Wowsers! In a classroom, Autumn listens very well. She is a compliant child and very influenced by peer pressure and conformity. So, she listens along with everyone else and follows directions. But, at home, it's just Autumn and maybe Sami and Mommy. Very, very different! I had forgotten that most of kindergarten in the public schools is not focused on teaching students academic and learning co...

Writing A Homeschool Teacher Resume

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