Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber
This is actually the third time I've read this book. It's probably my favorite on baby sleep, because it's so thorough and explains not only how to get your child to sleep the way you want, but also the science behind the sleep. I think this book and Babywise go really well together.
The first time I read it, Ashtyn was not even three months old and I thought I was going to die of sleep deprivation. This book really helped (along with Babywise). By three months, Ashtyn was taking great naps and sleeping eight hours at a time most nights. She was sleeping from 8:30 pm to 7:30/8:00 am by eight months. The second time I read it was when Parker was born. We did the same sleep methods, but from an earlier age. Parker was sleeping through the night (8;30 to 7:30) at six months and her naps really consistently evened out by seven months. Now, I'm using it with transitioning Ashtyn to sleeping in a bed.
One thing I noticed from the book is that most children have sleep problems around the time they are getting out of the newborn stage and should be sleeping better but aren't (around 4 to 6 months) or when they start sleeping in a crib instead of a bed (when their physical boundaries are removed). That's held true with our children.
What I learned from this book in regards to Ashtyn is that it's probably time for her to drop her nap. She gets a lot of sleep at night, still has a quiet time in the afternoon, and makes it through to bedtime alright most days and doesn't take spontaneous naps on her own (even in places like the car). So she officially has moved to a quiet time instead of a nap in the afternoons.
Clutterfree with Kids by Joshua Becker
I have to say, I loved this book! It was another cleaning book, but I loved it's focus on minimalism as a lifestyle. You don't just get rid of stuff and then organize what's left, but you get rid of everything you don't need, set up habits to keep the clutter out of your life (including habits of continuing to get rid of stuff as life continues), stop buying so much stuff, and declutter other areas of your life (like your family's schedule). It's so much about your stuff as it is your outlook on life and what's really important in life (hint: stuff really isn't very important in life). The author really focused on the blessings of living with less, which I really loved.
One idea I loved is parenting over possessions. Put your children first, over financial and commercial gain. And one quote (that goes along really well with Dave Ramsey's teachings) is "You are never too young to start thinking about your legacy."
A funny thing was Project 333. This project was an experiment where you only wear 33 different items clothing for three months. It includes clothing, jewelry, outerwear, and shoes, but does not include pajamas, wedding ring, underwear, lounge-wear (??), and workout clothing. It's just funny because both Ben and I have less than 33 clothing items that we wear all the time.
Another quote from the book was, "Remember, generosity always leads to contentment with far greater efficiency than contentment leads to generosity."
Another thing he talked about was trying to have less of a consumer attitude in life. One way we do that is by cutting back on how much we are advertised to. One way to do this is through watching less TV. For me, something I've been trying to do is scroll through Facebook less. I had given myself ten minutes in the morning and ten minutes at night. After reading this, I've eliminated one of those and give myself only ten minutes to get on Facebook. I love it. Not only does it give me more time to focus on the things that really matter, but it also helps me feel more content with my life (by eliminating the ads I see on Facebook and cutting down on the time I spend comparing my life to others').
"We need to remind ourselves over and over again happiness is not an item to be purchased, it is a decision to be enjoyed." That was another really great quote from the book.
Another quote: "Parenting is 100% parents trying to shape lives and 100% children choosing their own life." In regards to parenting, another idea he talks about is how we cannot eliminate envy from our children. No matter how much we have, someone will always appear to have more. Rather, we should teach them how to feel contentment and how to fight feelings of envy.
You hear a lot about entitlement and how to teach your kids to not be entitled. He suggested an idea I hadn't heard before--give them the responsibility of taking care of their own things. As they realize how much work is involved in maintaining the possessions of life, their entitlement level will decrease significantly.
"Wanting less is a better blessing than having more." -Mary Ellen Edmunds
The Art of Game Design by Jesse Schell
I enjoyed this book, despite it being a 530 page textbook. Seriously, it was so long, I've been reading it before bed for months. It did have a lot of useful information in it and even though I'm not a game developer, I did get quite a bit out of it. I found some information applied to creation in general (so applicable to my blog, etc.), some applicable to the board game Benjamin and I are working on for fun together, and some just interesting for my life in general. Here are the key things I got out of it.
To be a game designer, all you need to do is say the words, "I am a game designer." Even when you have doubts, say it to yourself. I think this can apply to all titles. In order to be a game designer (or whatever), you need to have the confidence in yourself first. It also ties in with the consistency principle, which states that you want to act in ways that are consistent with how you view yourself (and with how you think others view you). If you see yourself as a game designer, you will act accordingly (and actually begin developing games).
A big theme throughout the book was the idea that when you create a game, you aren't actually creating a game for someone. You are creating an experience. People only play your game for the experience, not for the game itself. And the game is not the experience, the game enables the experience.
This only touches the surface with what I felt I took from this book. It had a lot of really useful information. The author was a bit quirky and a little long winded at time, but I would recommend this book, if you're into any sort of game design or creation.
Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell
I will say I did not like this book. I wouldn't recommend it. First of all, it could have been at least half the length and still contained all the relevant information. The author seemed to go on quite a few tangents, which were for the most part interesting, but only slightly related to his main theme. He also referenced a lot of studies (which were interesting) but then stretched things a bit to make the studies fit his points, rather than drawing his points from the studies. It was a little vague, where you read the book and thought, this is interesting but never really got ideas of what you could do with your own marketing. In fact, a lot of what he talked about was inherent (or at least he claimed) so that if other people could do exactly the same thing, but because they weren't born with that special something, they'd never be able to mimick it exactly.
The book looks at how things go viral (though he never uses that term, we think it was written before that term came to be, he calls them epidemics). He says these things go viral through three basic things: The Law of the Few, the Stickiness Factor, and the Power of Context.
The Law of the Few is the idea that there are connectors in the world. Rather than everyone being connected to everyone else, there are a few people in the world that are connected to everyone else. Connectors Because these people know many other people, they have more power to start epidemics.
The Stickiness Factor is the idea that making small changes can make a message "stick" with people, without even having to touch the message. This could be things like where you position something or adding a small image into your advertisement.
The Power of Context basically says that we are heavily influenced by our surroundings. Often, our surroundings "tip" us to do or not do a certain behavior.
Even though I didn't enjoy the book overall, I was able to pull some useful ideas. I will also say that my brother-in-law read this book before Ben and I and really enjoyed it. If I were to make a recommendation, I would suggest finding a YouTube video that summarized the main events and talked about some of the studies in the book.
The Richest Man in Babylon by George S. Clason
This book was like Dave Ramsey but in scripture language and parables. I did enjoy it and it was interesting to see some of the financial principles that Ben and I believe and strive to live in this context.
One thing that was repeated throughout the book was the idea of paying yourself at least ten percent of your income first. Then you put it to work for you in wise ways (invest in smart investments). Then there are other principles throughout, like that riches follow men of action (you actually have to work and be proactive with your money to accumulate riches),don't put money into things you don't understand or you'll lose your money, get rich quick schemes cause you to lose your money, don't help people by taking their burden on yourself (lending money to family or friends, especially if you can't actually afford it), and where there is determination, there is a way.
It was a short book, but took me a surprisingly long time to read. It was well worth the time.
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