The 10 Habits of Happy Mothers

Author: Meg Meeker
Publisher: Ballantine Books
ISBN: 0345518071
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 274

Book Description
This sanity-saving guide “offers practical ways to help you let go of ‘mom guilt’ in order to become a happier, healthier woman” (Parent & Child). Now with wellness tips and exercises! The pressure on women today has pushed many American mothers to the breaking point. It feels as if “doing your best” is never enough to please everyone, and the demands mothers place on themselves are both impossible and unrealistic. Now Meg Meeker, M.D., critically acclaimed author of Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters, puts her twenty-five years’ experience as a practicing pediatrician and counselor into a sound, sane approach to reshaping the frustrating, exhausting lives of so many moms. Mothers are expected to do it all: raise superstar kids, look great, make good salaries, volunteer for everything, run errands, keep a perfect house, be the perfect wife. Single mothers often have even more demands—and less support. In this rallying cry for change, Dr. Meeker incorporates clinical data and her own experience raising four children to show why mothers suffer from the rising pressure to excel and the toll it takes on their emotional, physical, mental, and spiritual health. Too many mothers are increasingly lonely, anxious, depressed, and unhappy with themselves, refusing to let themselves off the hook. Here, Dr. Meeker has identified the 10 most positive habits of mothers who are healthy, happy, and fulfilled. The key is to embrace a new perspective and create real joy and purpose by utilizing such core habits as • making friends with those who know the meaning of friendship • finding out what money can buy (and what it cannot) • lightening the overload—and doing less more often • discovering faith and learning how to trust it • taking some alone time and reviving yourself Mothers, it’s time to view the unconditional trust that you see in your children’s eyes when they take your hand or find your face in a crowd as a mirror of your own wonder and worth. You are the light that shines in their lives, the beacon that guides them. By implementing the key strategies in Dr. Meeker’s book, you can be happy, hopeful, and a wonderful role model. You can teach your children to be the very best they can be—and isn’t that still the most precious reward of motherhood?

Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters

Author: Meg Meeker
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1596980370
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 290

Book Description
Inspiration for the motion picture streaming on Pure Flix! Drawing on her thirty years' experience practicing pediatric and adolescent medicine, teen health expert Dr. Meg Meeker explains why an active father figure is maybe the single most important factor in a young woman's development. In this invaluable guide, Meeker shows how a father can be both counsel and protector for his daughter as she grows into a spiritually and mentally strong young woman. From cradling his newborn to walking her down the aisle, a father must relish his paramount responsibility—guiding the course of his daughter’s life. Meeker reveals • how a man can become a "strong father" • how a father's guidance influences every part of a woman's life, from her self-respect to her perspective on drugs, alcohol, and sex • how to lay down ground rules that are respected without creating distance in your relationship with your daughter • why you need to be your daughter's hero • the mistakes most fathers make and their serious consequences • how to help daughters make their own good decisions and avoid disastrous mistakes • how a father's faith will influence his daughter's spiritual development • how to get through to you daughter, even during her toughest don't-talk-to-me years • true stories of daughters who were on the wrong path—and how their fathers helped to bring them back Learn how to grow, strengthen, or rebuild your relationship with your daughter to better both your life and hers in the bestselling Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know.

Boys Should Be Boys

Author: Meg Meeker
Publisher: Regnery Publishing
ISBN: 1596980575
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 286

Book Description
A guide to raising boys discusses encouragement, spending time together, the role of outdoor activites, rules, virtue, and adressing important issues.

What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us

Author: Danielle Crittenden
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1439127743
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 296

Book Description
Talk to women under forty today, and you will hear that in spite of the fact that they have achieved goals previous generations of women could only dream of, they nonetheless feel more confused and insecure than ever. What has gone wrong? What can be done to set it right? These are the questions Danielle Crittenden answers in What Our Mothers Didn't Tell Us. She examines the foremost issues in women's lives -- sex, marriage, motherhood, work, aging, and politics -- and argues that a generation of women has been misled: taught to blame men and pursue independence at all costs. Happiness is obtainable, Crittenden says, but only if women will free their minds from outdated feminist attitudes. By drawing on her own experience and a decade of research and analysis of modern female life, Crittenden passionately and engagingly tackles the myths that keep women from realizing the happiness they deserve. And she introduces a new way of thinking about society's problems that may, at long last, help women achieve the lives they desire.

Calm Mama, Happy Baby

Author: Derek O'Neill
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 0757317677
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 266

Book Description
"As a mom, I have absolutely found a connection between my stress or calm and my daughter's mood and behavior. Calm Mama, Happy Baby gives moms practical tools for choosing calm over stress no matter what is happening. These techniques have been a lifesaver for me." —Tiffani Thiessen, actress "A fascinating look at how we are neurologically ‘programmed' to think, feel, and act like our parents. This book shows moms how to avoid passing along habits of stress and negativity, setting their children up for good health, optimal learning, and better sleep." —Anjalee Warrier Galion, MD, Children's Hospital Orange County With constant feedings, teary outbursts, and trying to help your baby sleep through the night, it's no wonder that parents of babies and young children feel overwhelmed. Yet eye-opening neuroscientific research shows that your stress directly affects your child's mood, behavior, and health. The good news is that calm mamas have calmer, happier babies who usually feed and sleep better, too. Drawing on their experience in nearly two decades of working with parents in Hollywood and around the globe, Derek O'Neill and Jennifer Waldburger give parents practical tools for choosing calm over stress no matter what is happening with their child. For any mom who's ever said, "I wish my baby came with instructions," Calm Mama, Happy Baby offers a step-by-step approach for helping you parent intuitively, with confidence. • Discover the negative habits that cause stress and zap your energy • Learn how to understand your baby's communication on all levels • Defuse any parenting situation, from feeding problems and sleep disruptions to separation anxiety, fussiness, and colic • Explore why becoming a parent brings up unresolved fears and insecurities—and how to put them to rest. When mama is happy, your child is happy, too—and the entire household thrives.

Woman First, Family Always

Author: Kathryn Sansone
Publisher: Meredith Books
ISBN: 9780696228322
Category : Families
Languages : en
Pages : 258

Book Description
Advice from a mother of ten children for keeping personal needs, marriage demands, and children's wants in balance.

Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts

Author: Karen Kleiman
Publisher: Workman Publishing
ISBN: 1641701528
Category : Self-Help
Languages : en
Pages : 162

Book Description
Over 90 percent of new mothers will have scary, intrusive thoughts about their baby and themselves. What if I drop him? What if I snap and hurt my baby? Mothering is so hard—I don't know if I really want to do this anymore. Gosh, I'm so terrible for thinking that! Yet for too many mothers, those thoughts remain secret, hidden away in a place of shame that can quickly grow into anxiety, postpartum depression, and even self-harm. But here's the good news: you CAN feel better! Author Karen Kleiman—coauthor of the seminal book This Isn't What I Expected and founder of the acclaimed Postpartum Stress Center—comes to the aid of new mothers everywhere with a groundbreaking new source of hope, compassion, and expert help. Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts is packed with world-class guidance, simple exercises, and nearly 50 stigma-busting cartoons from the viral #speakthesecret campaign that help new moms validate their feelings, share their fears, and start feeling better. Lighthearted yet serious, warm yet not sugary, and perfectly portioned for busy moms with full plates, Good Moms Have Scary Thoughts is the go-to resource for moms, partners, and families everywhere who need help with this difficult period.

Good-Enough Mother

Author: René Syler
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 141695127X
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 294

Book Description
In an ideal world, mothers would have time to hand-sew their kids' costumes for the school play, prepare all-organic meals, and volunteer in the classroom at the drop of a hat. In reality, most moms have to settle for plopping their little ones in front of SpongeBob so that they can prepare yet another chicken nugget-based dinner, guiltily convinced they're falling down on the job. In Good-Enough Mother, René Syler pulls back the curtain to reveal the truth about modern mothering and reassure time-stressed moms that even if their children are strangers to made-from-scratch cookies, they can emerge as happy, well-adjusted, fully functioning members of society. Mother to two great kids of her own, Syler explains how she learned to chuck perfection for practicality -- in short, how she became a Good-Enough Mother. She shows other women seeking to balance family, work, and some semblance of a personal life how to happily join the ranks of Good-Enough Mothers, who occasionally serve breakfast for dinner yet give their children plenty of what really matters -- love, time, and support. Each essay provides welcome empathy and sage advice on navigating life's different obstacles, whether it's dealing with annoying Supermoms, bluffing through a third grader's math homework, or coping with the words that strike terror into every parent's heart ("Your son's teacher on line one"). Offering real wisdom tempered with humor and warmth, Good-Enough Mother will have every modern mom laughing in relief and recognition.

The Gift of a Happy Mother

Author: Rebecca Eanes
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 0143131567
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 225

Book Description
A supportive guide that gives busy moms permission to care for themselves, from a popular parenting blogger with one million Facebook followers "Would you rather have a perfect mom, or a happy one?" This is the question that popular parenting blogger Rebecca Eanes couldn't get out of her head. So she asked her school-age son, who didn't miss a beat in responding: "A happy one." Thus began a journey of reflection and repair work, as Rebecca asked herself an even harder question: How can I rediscover everyday joy amid the chaos of schedules, homework, and housework--not to mention the guilt, comparisons, loneliness, fear, and overwhelm? In other words, how can I become a happy mom again? In this relatable guide, Rebecca walks readers through the process of getting back to happy, for your own sake as well as your family's. Going beyond the usual advice about finding balance, embracing gratitude, and not sweating the small stuff, her hard-won advice is written by a busy mom in the trenches. Topics include: * Letting go of perfection (or anything close to it) * Making peace with the past--including the pain of disappointment, loss, and the roads not taken * Tuning in to your own wants and needs--and tuning out the comparisons, "shoulds," and noise of social media * Finding magic in the mess * Choosing joy over fear and worry * Creating healthy boundaries so that everyone in your life can thrive (including you!) Filled with fresh insights, simple strategies, and aha moments, this is that rare book you'll want to read, share, and return to for a booster shot of confidence, connection, and joy.

Will I Ever be Good Enough?

Author: Karyl McBride
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1416551328
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 275

Book Description
The first book specifically for daughters suffering from the emotional abuse of selfish, self-involved mothers,Will I Ever Be Good Enough?provides the expert assistance you need in order to overcome this debilitating history and reclaim your life for yourself. Drawing on over two decades of experience as a therapist specializing in women's psychology and health, psychotherapist Dr. Karyl McBride helpsyou recognize the widespread effects of this maternal emotional abuse and guides you as you create an individualized program for self-protection, resolution, and complete recovery.An estimated 1.5 million American women have narcissistic personality disorder, which makes them so insecure and overbearing, insensitive and domineering that they can psychologically damage their daughters for life. Daughters of narcissistic mothers learn that maternal love is not unconditional, and that it is given only when they behave in accordance with their mothers' often unreasonable expectations and whims. As adults, these daughters consequently have difficulty overcoming their insecurities and feelings of inadequacy, disappointment, sadness, and emotional emptiness. They may also have a terrible fear of abandonment that leads them to form unhealthy love relationships, as well as a tendency to perfectionism and unrelenting self-criticism, or to self-sabotage and frustration.Herself the recovering daughter of a narcissistic mother, Dr. McBride includes her personal struggle, which adds a profound level of authority to her work, along with the perspectives of the hundreds of suffering daughters she's interviewed over the years. Their stories of how maternal abuse has manifested in their lives -- as well as how they have successfully overcome its effects -- show you that you're not alone and that you can take back your life and have the controlyouwant.Dr. McBride's step-by-step program will enable you to:(1) Recognize your own experience with maternal narcissism and its effects on all aspects of your life (2) Discover how you have internalized verbal and nonverbal messages from your mother and how these have translated into a strong desire to overachieve or a tendency to self-sabotage (3) Construct a step-by-step program to reclaim your life and enhance your sense of self, a process that includes creating a psychological separation from your mother and breaking the legacy of abuse. You will also learn how not to repeat your mother's mistakes with your own daughter.Warm and sympathetic, filled with the examples of women who have established healthy boundaries with their hurtful mothers,Will I Ever Be Good Enough?encourages and inspires you as it aids your recovery.