A couple of days ago I started reading a very helpful parenting book. While this book has not helped me to solve any of my current toddler parenting dilemmas just yet, it has helped me to begin approaching them in a slightly different way. Before I launch into my description of the book and why I am enjoying it, I will offer up my favorite piece of parenting advice. That advice is to take what is useful and discard the rest. There is no one perfect parenting solution that will work for all families, so it is up to you to sift through the available information and decide what you will implement in your own home.
The book that I discovered a few days ago (upon recommendation from a friend) is “Buddhism for Mothers : A Calm Approach to Caring for Yourself and Your Children” by Sarah Napthali. One thing that I noticed as soon as I started reading it is that it is easy to read in bits and pieces. This is very important, especially since members of the target audience (moms) do not often have large chunks of time available for reading – or anything else, for that matter. It is easy to pick this book up whenever you have a few minutes, read a few pages, and then put it down. As you go about your day, you can think about the concept or concepts that you just read about and see how they might be applicable to your situation.
One other great thing that I noticed is that although the book is about Buddhism as it applies to the work of parenting, the author is able to present the material in a way that is more spiritual than it is religious. That makes the concepts and information appealing to a broader audience than just those who are interested in Buddhism. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for a way to help themselves approach the task of parenting more calmly and thoughtfully. It has only been a couple of days since I started reading this book, but I find myself stopping to think about how to respond to situations more often, instead of being as reactionary as I usually am. I think that as I continue to read and reread this book and put the author’s ideas into practice, I will be able to more closely resemble the calm and joyful mother that I aspire to be.
Photo by rikahi on morguefile.com.