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.
Sunday, April 30, 2017
Tuesday, April 25, 2017
A Claim on the Errand of Angels
Tonight, we had our ward's Relief Society birthday party. The young men helped in the nursery for mutual, so I just sent the girls there with Ben and relaxed with some of the ladies in our ward. I really, really enjoyed myself.
They had a group of women sing "As Sisters in Zion" and a line really touched. "The errand of angels is given to women and this is a gift that as sisters we claim." I have always loved that line, because I have a very strong testimony that God has given women a spirit of service and giving. I've been the recipient of this in my own life, I've watched the women around me as they've lived this, and I feel the desire within my own heart. I love the Relief Society, because it is an organized and God ordained way of uniting women to do exactly what God has called them to do--help lift those around them.
The lady who gave the talk portion of the evening spoke of the history and importance of the Relief Society. As she ended with her testimony, she said that she knew that God loved us and testified of our importance in the world and in our homes today. This really touched my heart.
Sunday night, my stomach started hurting and I did not feel well all of yesterday. It was hard on our entire family. I wanted to just take the day off and relax, but I couldn't fully do that (because as a mother of young kids, you never really can). My kids wanted me and my attention, our family ate almost nothing all day because I didn't have food around and wasn't up to making any, and even my poor husband felt my absence. It was a hard day, but it was also a reminder to me of the importance of my role as wife and mother.
I know that many in the world today look down on stay-at-home moms. They think we should be adding "more value" to the world. They think we're oppressed or lazy. They think we do nothing all day or that what we do doesn't actually affect the lives of our children in a positive way. They think we are going against feminism and equality and they think that we are wasting our lives.
They misunderstand the most important things in life. The most important things are not careers, money, progress, "equality", or even hard work. The most important things are God, family, and marriage.
The most important things are the moments when your child makes a mistake and you patiently show them why it was a mistake and teach them how to do better in the future.
The most important things are being there for the big moments in your child's life, even if those big moments seem small at the moment.
The most important things are those smiles, laughs, books, and homemade meals you share with your child while they're young so that you can share those same things with them when they're teenagers and adults.
The most important things are the day in and day out moments that build a marriage into something unbreakably strong.
The most important things are literally the hundreds of small moments a day that are really important without anyone realizing in that moment that it's important. And that, that is why mothers are so important. That is why Relief Society and the gospel matter so much. And that is why I'm proud to be a woman.
I know God has called me as an Angel. And that is a gift that I am ready to claim.
They had a group of women sing "As Sisters in Zion" and a line really touched. "The errand of angels is given to women and this is a gift that as sisters we claim." I have always loved that line, because I have a very strong testimony that God has given women a spirit of service and giving. I've been the recipient of this in my own life, I've watched the women around me as they've lived this, and I feel the desire within my own heart. I love the Relief Society, because it is an organized and God ordained way of uniting women to do exactly what God has called them to do--help lift those around them.
The lady who gave the talk portion of the evening spoke of the history and importance of the Relief Society. As she ended with her testimony, she said that she knew that God loved us and testified of our importance in the world and in our homes today. This really touched my heart.
Sunday night, my stomach started hurting and I did not feel well all of yesterday. It was hard on our entire family. I wanted to just take the day off and relax, but I couldn't fully do that (because as a mother of young kids, you never really can). My kids wanted me and my attention, our family ate almost nothing all day because I didn't have food around and wasn't up to making any, and even my poor husband felt my absence. It was a hard day, but it was also a reminder to me of the importance of my role as wife and mother.
I know that many in the world today look down on stay-at-home moms. They think we should be adding "more value" to the world. They think we're oppressed or lazy. They think we do nothing all day or that what we do doesn't actually affect the lives of our children in a positive way. They think we are going against feminism and equality and they think that we are wasting our lives.
They misunderstand the most important things in life. The most important things are not careers, money, progress, "equality", or even hard work. The most important things are God, family, and marriage.
The most important things are the moments when your child makes a mistake and you patiently show them why it was a mistake and teach them how to do better in the future.
The most important things are being there for the big moments in your child's life, even if those big moments seem small at the moment.
The most important things are those smiles, laughs, books, and homemade meals you share with your child while they're young so that you can share those same things with them when they're teenagers and adults.
The most important things are the day in and day out moments that build a marriage into something unbreakably strong.
The most important things are literally the hundreds of small moments a day that are really important without anyone realizing in that moment that it's important. And that, that is why mothers are so important. That is why Relief Society and the gospel matter so much. And that is why I'm proud to be a woman.
I know God has called me as an Angel. And that is a gift that I am ready to claim.
Tuesday, April 11, 2017
March 2017 - Books I Read
A Twaddle-Free Education by Deborah Taylor-Hugh
As I've been working on getting up my homeschool blog/business up and running, I've been reading a lot about homeschooling and education. One thing that I've looked into a lot is Charlotte Mason education. It's been very interesting and this was a book recommended on one of the blogs I was reading.
The book was basically an overview of what a Charlotte Mason education entails. I was actually hoping (from the title) that it would be more focused on book choice, but it wasn't. "Twaddle" is the opposite of "living books" which are books that come alive for you, make you want to learn more, and are more than just facts or overviews. I love that idea. I love the idea of being intentional with what you are feeding your mind and the mind of your children, of choosing to spend your time reading the best material, full of ideas and life, rather than trying to memorize facts and learning for a test.
There are other things I want to incorporate into our homeschool. One thing is narration. Narration is simply telling back what you've read, talking through the plot or what you took away from it. This can be verbally (especially when young) or written as the student gets older, or it can even be creative, like rewriting the scene from another perspective or drawing a picture of the scene. I love this idea. I was noticing that for me, this blog serves that purpose. I read books differently knowing that I am going to be writing the post about it. I learn more.
Another idea is notebooking. This can be incorporated in nature. Each child keeps a nature journal and each week, you go on a nature walk. They find something interesting (like a rock or bug or leaf, etc.) and draw a picture of it. Underneath the picture, they write something about it, like a poem, where it was found, or what it is (using field guides to learn more about it). Notebooks can also be used for things like studying artists and their work or for going places like the zoo. Notebooks are a very informal way to teach writing and help the students pay attention and remember more for longer.
I loved this quote: "You don't have to over schedule yourself, or over plan your curriculum, or make sure everything's absolutely perfect, or spend hundreds of dollars on books, supplies, teachers, etc. .. We didn't do "school at home" per se--our home was our school."
Charlotte Mason Study Guide by Penny Gardner
This is the other book on Charlotte Mason that I read. It was in my mother-in-law's bookshelf and when I saw it, she let me borrow it. It was honestly not that great of a read for me. It was wordy and I couldn't follow the organization of it very well, which drove me crazy. However, I did get some gems from it.
One idea I really liked was the idea of doing school in a way so that teacher and student never ask, "do we have to do school?" You try to introduce ideas and concepts to the students in meaningful ways (through living books, nature, art, etc.) and learn together. As they grow, they learn how to learn and their love of learning grows so that they continue their education throughout their life. I love that idea.
A quote I love, "Mind appeals to mind and thought begets thought and that is how we become educated." And this one: "Education is a life. The life is sustained on ideas. We must sustain a child's inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food." And this one: "Once we realize that the mind too works only as it is fed, education will appear to us in a new light." These are all quotes by Charlotte Mason.
Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson
This was my purely for-fun book. It was a really short novella that Brandon Sanderson recently released and I was really excited to read it. It was good, but honestly not really up to his normal standard of writing. The ending was not as satisfying as I would have liked. It's about these two detectives who go into a replication of the day a crime played out and can watch events transpire, but their actions can affect the day and change things. It has some interesting plot twists and funny interactions, but again, I just didn't like the ending very much.
Balanced and Barefoot by Angela J. Hanscom
Okay, I really loved this book. I would definitely recommend it to all parents. It was all about the benefits of letting kids play outside, and especially of letting kids have free play outside. It emphasized letting them play for hours and the need to let them take (smallish) risks and not have very much adult interference (this is obviously within reason). It was an especially good read for me because this isn't something that comes naturally for me. I am really good at things like reading to my kids everyday (because I already love reading) and having them on a good sleep schedule. Letting them take risks/make messes and taking them outside a ton is not naturally easy for me. This book brought it to my attention and helped me find some specific ways to do so.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
This is a book that everyone always talks about, but I had never actually read it. It was a shorter read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's really interesting to read it after reading Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.The most interesting part of the book to me was all the subtle changes the pigs made to the Animal Commandments as the book went on. I have to say, I will never look at pigs in quite the same light again.
Authority by Nathan Barry
This was a book about writing and marketing eBooks. It's one that Ben bought but then I read when he finished it. It was an okay book. I felt like there was a lot of specifics in it (rather than simply principles), some of which didn't apply to me, so I found myself skimming some of it.
The author basically says you build an email list through teaching and then sell your books (or products) to the email list. Very sound advice. I honestly believe the best way to market pretty much anything is by teaching, because teaching offers a lot of value. There were a lot of good little ideas throughout the book:
"If you get in the habit of sharing everything you know, it will be much easier to position yourself as an expert later. Just be transparent about your skill level and people will be happy to follow along and will even be far more likely to offer to help when you get stuck."
"Artists are all waiting for someone to pick them, to say 'you're work is good enough.' But most people don't get picked. That's why the very idea of waiting can be so depressing. Everything is out of control ... You can take control, set a plan, and execute on that plan to bring you own ideas to life." I liked this idea, because it's something that Ben and I have talked about before. If you sing and you're waiting for a big hit or you write and you're waiting for a bestseller, you're going to be waiting a long time. It's not in your circle of influence and not very many artists or authors make it that way. But if you build your audience slowly and patiently, through giving them good quality content (like, teaching them), then you can sell them products or find other ways to let them support you and suddenly you're making money off of what you love without having to "make it big."
Love Your Life, Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze
This was a reread for me and I actually listened to it this time. I was wanting to listen to a book while I was nursing Parker and I picked this one because I was needing a little extra motivation to stay tight on our budget. Listening to a book about succeeding with money always does the trick and I love Dave Ramsey and his team for that.
I really love this book. A lot of the practical application part of it, I really don't need. I already know and am living that side of things. It's really fun for me to listen to Rachel's experiences as a spender, though, because I can really relate to her. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that feels that way or has done those things.
I also really love the focus of this book on not comparing your life with other people's. That's what the entire first section is all about. I don't think it's possible to succeed with money or to live a full life without contentment. You have to learn to stop looking at what other people have and start being grateful for what you have. This is something that I can struggle with sometimes and it was great for me to be reminded of how much I truly have.
As I've been working on getting up my homeschool blog/business up and running, I've been reading a lot about homeschooling and education. One thing that I've looked into a lot is Charlotte Mason education. It's been very interesting and this was a book recommended on one of the blogs I was reading.
The book was basically an overview of what a Charlotte Mason education entails. I was actually hoping (from the title) that it would be more focused on book choice, but it wasn't. "Twaddle" is the opposite of "living books" which are books that come alive for you, make you want to learn more, and are more than just facts or overviews. I love that idea. I love the idea of being intentional with what you are feeding your mind and the mind of your children, of choosing to spend your time reading the best material, full of ideas and life, rather than trying to memorize facts and learning for a test.
There are other things I want to incorporate into our homeschool. One thing is narration. Narration is simply telling back what you've read, talking through the plot or what you took away from it. This can be verbally (especially when young) or written as the student gets older, or it can even be creative, like rewriting the scene from another perspective or drawing a picture of the scene. I love this idea. I was noticing that for me, this blog serves that purpose. I read books differently knowing that I am going to be writing the post about it. I learn more.
Another idea is notebooking. This can be incorporated in nature. Each child keeps a nature journal and each week, you go on a nature walk. They find something interesting (like a rock or bug or leaf, etc.) and draw a picture of it. Underneath the picture, they write something about it, like a poem, where it was found, or what it is (using field guides to learn more about it). Notebooks can also be used for things like studying artists and their work or for going places like the zoo. Notebooks are a very informal way to teach writing and help the students pay attention and remember more for longer.
I loved this quote: "You don't have to over schedule yourself, or over plan your curriculum, or make sure everything's absolutely perfect, or spend hundreds of dollars on books, supplies, teachers, etc. .. We didn't do "school at home" per se--our home was our school."
Charlotte Mason Study Guide by Penny Gardner
This is the other book on Charlotte Mason that I read. It was in my mother-in-law's bookshelf and when I saw it, she let me borrow it. It was honestly not that great of a read for me. It was wordy and I couldn't follow the organization of it very well, which drove me crazy. However, I did get some gems from it.
One idea I really liked was the idea of doing school in a way so that teacher and student never ask, "do we have to do school?" You try to introduce ideas and concepts to the students in meaningful ways (through living books, nature, art, etc.) and learn together. As they grow, they learn how to learn and their love of learning grows so that they continue their education throughout their life. I love that idea.
A quote I love, "Mind appeals to mind and thought begets thought and that is how we become educated." And this one: "Education is a life. The life is sustained on ideas. We must sustain a child's inner life with ideas as we sustain his body with food." And this one: "Once we realize that the mind too works only as it is fed, education will appear to us in a new light." These are all quotes by Charlotte Mason.
Snapshot by Brandon Sanderson
This was my purely for-fun book. It was a really short novella that Brandon Sanderson recently released and I was really excited to read it. It was good, but honestly not really up to his normal standard of writing. The ending was not as satisfying as I would have liked. It's about these two detectives who go into a replication of the day a crime played out and can watch events transpire, but their actions can affect the day and change things. It has some interesting plot twists and funny interactions, but again, I just didn't like the ending very much.
Balanced and Barefoot by Angela J. Hanscom
Okay, I really loved this book. I would definitely recommend it to all parents. It was all about the benefits of letting kids play outside, and especially of letting kids have free play outside. It emphasized letting them play for hours and the need to let them take (smallish) risks and not have very much adult interference (this is obviously within reason). It was an especially good read for me because this isn't something that comes naturally for me. I am really good at things like reading to my kids everyday (because I already love reading) and having them on a good sleep schedule. Letting them take risks/make messes and taking them outside a ton is not naturally easy for me. This book brought it to my attention and helped me find some specific ways to do so.
Animal Farm by George Orwell
This is a book that everyone always talks about, but I had never actually read it. It was a shorter read, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. It's really interesting to read it after reading Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion.The most interesting part of the book to me was all the subtle changes the pigs made to the Animal Commandments as the book went on. I have to say, I will never look at pigs in quite the same light again.
Authority by Nathan Barry
This was a book about writing and marketing eBooks. It's one that Ben bought but then I read when he finished it. It was an okay book. I felt like there was a lot of specifics in it (rather than simply principles), some of which didn't apply to me, so I found myself skimming some of it.
The author basically says you build an email list through teaching and then sell your books (or products) to the email list. Very sound advice. I honestly believe the best way to market pretty much anything is by teaching, because teaching offers a lot of value. There were a lot of good little ideas throughout the book:
"If you get in the habit of sharing everything you know, it will be much easier to position yourself as an expert later. Just be transparent about your skill level and people will be happy to follow along and will even be far more likely to offer to help when you get stuck."
"Artists are all waiting for someone to pick them, to say 'you're work is good enough.' But most people don't get picked. That's why the very idea of waiting can be so depressing. Everything is out of control ... You can take control, set a plan, and execute on that plan to bring you own ideas to life." I liked this idea, because it's something that Ben and I have talked about before. If you sing and you're waiting for a big hit or you write and you're waiting for a bestseller, you're going to be waiting a long time. It's not in your circle of influence and not very many artists or authors make it that way. But if you build your audience slowly and patiently, through giving them good quality content (like, teaching them), then you can sell them products or find other ways to let them support you and suddenly you're making money off of what you love without having to "make it big."
Love Your Life, Not Theirs by Rachel Cruze
This was a reread for me and I actually listened to it this time. I was wanting to listen to a book while I was nursing Parker and I picked this one because I was needing a little extra motivation to stay tight on our budget. Listening to a book about succeeding with money always does the trick and I love Dave Ramsey and his team for that.
I really love this book. A lot of the practical application part of it, I really don't need. I already know and am living that side of things. It's really fun for me to listen to Rachel's experiences as a spender, though, because I can really relate to her. It's nice to know that I'm not the only one that feels that way or has done those things.
I also really love the focus of this book on not comparing your life with other people's. That's what the entire first section is all about. I don't think it's possible to succeed with money or to live a full life without contentment. You have to learn to stop looking at what other people have and start being grateful for what you have. This is something that I can struggle with sometimes and it was great for me to be reminded of how much I truly have.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)