Catherine (cmsd84) - The United States (195 books)

Catherine gave

to:

Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves
by Naomi Aldort

read in February, 2012

My rating:

Catherine gave

to:

Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love
by Sue Johnson

My rating:

Catherine added:

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
by Betty Smith

My rating:

Catherine gave

to:

How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
by Adele Faber

My rating:

Catherine added:

Mothering Your Nursing Toddler
by Norma J. Bumgarner

My rating:

Catherine gave

to:

The Family Bed: An Age Old Concept in Child Rearing
by Tine Thevenin

read in January, 2012

My rating:

I know what you're thinking - this book sounds totally crazy, but hear me out. I was never a proponent of co-sleeping before having children, in fact I'm sure I criticized it a fair number of times.

BUT, I had a rude awakening (literally) when we b...moreI know what you're thinking - this book sounds totally crazy, but hear me out. I was never a proponent of co-sleeping before having children, in fact I'm sure I criticized it a fair number of times.

BUT, I had a rude awakening (literally) when we brought Lucas home from the hospital and he wouldn't sleep in his bassinet. He wouldn't sleep at all, unless he was being held, or snuggled close to me, in my bed. So, very reluctantly, we brought him into our bed. A mantra I've adopted is "a baby's wants and needs are the same thing" so naturally I was curious to read more about the needs of babies and toddlers to sleep with someone.

A couple excerpts that I like:

"How do children learn to love? How do children learn to wait? Child psychologists' records of observations indicate that it is the baby who is immediately and unconditionally loved, immediately and unconditionally waited on, who learns to love and to wait. Indulgence in this respect at an early age results in patience as an adult. The person who is not frustrated in his early years is more capable of enduring frustration as an adult."

I love the above statement because it is so opposite of what society tells us today - don't hold your baby too much or else you'll spoil it!

More quotes:
"The need of a child to sleep with members of his family is not subject to be determined by our opinion. It should be determined by his emotional wants.
"We are born needing. We need air, food, sleep, and shelter. We need intellectual and physical stimulation. We need to be loved and touched. If any of these needs goes fully or even partially unattended, the person hurts; and in the case of an emotional wound, the person may spend the rest of his life struggling to soothe the initial hurt."

I'm certainly not going to tell everyone that they HAVE to co-sleep, but I think we need to stop thinking of it as taboo. I do think more babies should be welcomed into the family bed, rather than left on their own to "cry it out" - a practice which I think is so harmful to a child's emotional health.

And as far as the book - it has some very interesting research that does indicate that everyone benefits from the family bed. I'm halfway through the book, and I'm finding it fascinating, mostly because it is so different than what most of society tells us.

And one final quote:
"It would be thoughtless to simply say, "Give your children that which they need," for deep within many of us lie needs that were not fulfilled during our own infancy, needs which, even as adults, we are still trying to fulfill - needs that are so strong that they surface when we are faced with our own children's demands. It would be thoughtless because true maturing comes from within ourselves, not from without. We frequently read, "If you don't want to take full responsibility for your children, then you are not ready and should not have children."
But it is strangely wonderful that, for many of us, our very own children are the ones who make us more mature. They allow us to experience more fully that which our own parents may have left incomplete. They awaken within us dormant instincts, dormant selves, even though it may take several children before this happens...
"Allow yourself to grow, to mature with your children." (page 129-130)(less)

Catherine marked as to-read:

Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason
by Alfie Kohn

My rating:

Catherine marked as to-read:

Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent
by Meredith Small

My rating:

Catherine added:

All New Square Foot Gardening
by Mel Bartholomew

read in October, 2011

My rating:

Catherine gave

to:

Raising Your Spirited Child REV Ed
by Mary Kurcinka

My rating:

I'm only halfway through, but this book is completely changing my view of 16 month old Lucas, and also helping me to understand Brian and myself. Rather than using negative labels (crazy, getting into everything, making messes), I am learning to use ...more

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Catherine gave to: Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves by Naomi Aldort read in February, 2012	My rating:
Feb 03, 2012 12:09pm
Catherine gave to: Hold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Love by Sue Johnson	My rating:
Feb 03, 2012 12:03pm
Catherine added: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith	My rating:
Jan 28, 2012 08:06am
Catherine gave to: How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber	My rating:
Jan 28, 2012 08:04am
Catherine added: Mothering Your Nursing Toddler by Norma J. Bumgarner	My rating:
Jan 28, 2012 08:04am
Catherine gave to: The Family Bed: An Age Old Concept in Child Rearing by Tine Thevenin read in January, 2012	My rating:
I know what you're thinking - this book sounds totally crazy, but hear me out. I was never a proponent of co-sleeping before having children, in fact I'm sure I criticized it a fair number of times. BUT, I had a rude awakening (literally) when we b...more
Jan 16, 2012 09:04am · see review
Catherine marked as to-read: Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason by Alfie Kohn	My rating:
Nov 10, 2011 03:38pm
Catherine marked as to-read: Our Babies, Ourselves: How Biology and Culture Shape the Way We Parent by Meredith Small	My rating:
Nov 10, 2011 03:37pm
Catherine added: All New Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew read in October, 2011	My rating:
Oct 28, 2011 11:47am
Catherine gave to: Raising Your Spirited Child REV Ed by Mary Kurcinka	My rating:
I'm only halfway through, but this book is completely changing my view of 16 month old Lucas, and also helping me to understand Brian and myself. Rather than using negative labels (crazy, getting into everything, making messes), I am learning to use ...more
Oct 28, 2011 11:45am · see review

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