I was very intrigued by this book. We often want to create lasting memories for our kids and are often hard on ourselves when they are not what we wanted or planned. Or we feel a lack in what those plans provide.
Chapters:
1: The Worst Day, the Best Gift
2: Why I Iron the Napkins: All the Hard Work is Worth it
3: Spontaneity: Let's go on an adventure
4: Beauty: on teapots, birdwatching, and the smell of bacon
5: Food: memories that stick to your ribs
6: Holidays: crooked Christmas trees and lingering over lent
7: learning: Cultivating Curiosity
8: Service: When someone needs help, we help
9: Relationships: One on one times makes the difference
10: Work: The best memories involve soap and buckets (more or less)
11: Rest: Sundays are a gift, and so is the flu
12: Faith: Why you need the puzzle box
Things I like about this book:
* Ideas divided between younger kids and older kids
* You can skip to different parts of the book easily without missing anything.
* Easy to read
* The way the chapters in the book are chunked into sections is well done
* The ideas sorted out by not only themes but even times of the year are great
* This book has me thinking about what I have failed to do in terms of creating memories and traditions that will last a lifetime after dealing with what I have been going through with a divorce. (And this really isn't a bad thing-- in fact, it's a great thing).
* I love that this not only challenges me to do better at this but also to remind me how much fun it can be to do those things with my kids
* There are great ideas that can be used by any parents at any time-- meaning that they don't have to prescribe to a certain faith or ideal to be able to use them.
* That the book is sectioned out well in themes so you can always go back to find some awesome ideas
* I love the "Questions You May be Asking" part because it is very important to acknowledge things like military families, or single parent families, or losing family members, etc. I really respect that the author put this in there and thought about situations that don't fit the "normal" (except that it is more normal than people think).
* She has an appendix of all her ideas!! That is AWESOME and incredible. This is the first book I have seen that has done that which is beautiful!
* In her notes, she easily breaks down her sources and resources by chapter which I highly appreciate.
Things I don't like about this book:
* Wish this was a hard covered book!
* While most of the book is able to speak to every walk of life in motherhood-- one of them that is harder is that of Faith- which is normal but not unnoticeable-- (and can be skipped over if you wish to not read it). Some of the ideas in the faith section are more Christian based that are hard to turn into universal theism ideas (meaning people of different faiths can use and tweak to their needs).
My Rating:
I give this book a 5 out 5 because I think it will help many mums out there. I wish I could get more copies of these to give out to many mums I know and in the single mum's group I am going to be starting soon!
Book Description
Be a different kind of mom. Break through the distractions and create lasting memories.
What’s the solution to gaining the balanced, meaningful life you desire with your family? Create traditions that bring joy and significance. Popular "Smartter Each Day" blogger and mom of three, Jessica Smartt explains why memory-making is the puzzle piece that today’s families are longing for. She highlights ten tradition-gifts kids need most, including a rich resource of two hundred–plus unique traditions. She also offers practical encouragement to modern parents to keep on adventuring—even when they are fighting distractions, are on a budget, and exhausted.
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