I'm a full-time mummy

(*Article first published as Book Review: 14 Secrets to Better Parenting by Dave Earley on Blogcritics.)

I'm always scouting for good books on parenting, Christianity, children and so on and when I saw this book's availability on NetGalley, I immediately asked to review it. And oh boy, I just love this book! Here is my review of this book from Dave Earley entitled: "14 Secrets to Better Parenting: Powerful Principles from the Bible".

Author: Dave Earley
Publisher:  Barbour Books (April 1, 2011)
ISBN-13: 978-1616262259
Hardcover: 224 pages
Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches

Description from the Amazon product page:

"Wondering how to raise great kids? Turn to the Bible’s book of Proverbs for guidance—that’s where author Dave Earley found many of his 14 Secrets to Better Parenting. From “Focus on Training” to “When You Have No Other Option, Keep Praying!”, these principles will help you create the kind of home environment conducive to raising successful children. “When our children were born over twenty years ago,” the author says, “I researched what the Bible had to say about parenting and made a list of principles. I considered writing my findings up as a book, but refrained from getting it published until our children were grown and I could see how the principles worked. Guess what? They work! We can joyously say today that all three of our boys are living lives that honor the Lord.”"

This entire book is written based on the book of Proverbs. As I read through each chapters in the book, I couldn't help but agree and realised there's so much to parenting!

The writing style of Dave Earley is like Max Lucado and Zig Ziglar, in the sense that the author dispenses his parenting advice together with biblical verses for you to understand more on and ponder about.

The author starts with the questions on why should we trust in God as the expert on parenting and why the books on Proverbs in particular. On page 14 of the book, he explains that the book of Proverbs is unique as it is written from the perspective of a parent giving encouragement and instruction to a child. Read Proverbs 4:1-2 (NIV)

I like the statement on page 17 where it says "Parents who make their children's immediate happiness the goal of their parenting are making a huge mistake, If happiness becomes the primary target, character flaws would go uncorrected and behavioral problems will be overlooked. The children will be spoiled and overindulged." In my opinion, too often we as parents are afraid of disciplining our child; either we are too soft hearted to punish them when they do something wrong or we think they are still too young to understand the concept of punishment or apologizing for their mistake. Read: Proverbs 23:13 (NIV), Proverbs 29:15 (NIV), Proverbs 29:17 (NIV)

I also learned that it is best that the same person who disciplines the child should be the same one to console them afterward. That way, the child will understand the connection between discipline, love and developing character and all. There is also some points on resorting to spanking as a method of discipline which you should read on to understand more.

In summary, this book emphasize highly on the power of wisdom, in the sense that how we as parents should focus our parenting on developing our child's wisdom.

I am very inspired with how wisdom helps greatly in our children growing up to be a God fearing and God loving child. I am so glad to review this book and it will definitely stay in my iPad for repeated readings!

You can also purchase the 14 Secrets to Better Parenting: Powerful Principles from the Bible (14 Bible Secrets Series) book from Amazon.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a galley proof of the book via my association with netGalley as a reviewer in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"

Who says being pregnant isn't fun? I get to review more things when I'm pregnant! Anyway, I came across the details on this book  in a press release and tried my luck in requesting for an opportunity to review it even though the title suggests that it's for fathers-to-be. I mean, hey, this book is written by a woman and I want to know whether there are anything being left out or anything that my husband should be aware of this time round! (Not that he's not prepared during our 1st birth but it doesn't hurt to learn more, right?) So here is my review of this educational book from Elaine Atwood Adler entitled: "A Concise Guide to Labor and Delivery for Fathers-to-Be".

Author: Elaine Atwood Adler
Publisher:  CreateSpace (June 27, 2010)
ISBN-13: 978-1453611647
Hardcover: 104 pages

Description from the product page:

"You’re expecting a baby! Congratulations! This is a very exciting time in your life – one that will be filled with more joy than you could ever imagine! Maybe you’re not the father, but a supportive friend helping the new mother through her pregnancy. Either way, having a baby is not only a monumental task for the mother, but for you as well! The new Mom needs you to be there with her and for her not only during the pregnancy, but especially during labor and delivery.

Many men are reluctant to be present during the birth of a child. Some might feel they’re too squeamish to witness the actual birth. Others are afraid they won’t be able to effectively provide support to their partners. Most of the time, the hesitation these men feel stems from the fact that they are basically clueless when it comes to the miracle of childbirth."

I got interested in this book as I read the list of what you will learn from this book, such as:

# What happens when you get to the hospital?
# What a woman needs most during labor.
# What labor contractions feel like - if you dare!
# What happens during the three stages of labor.
# What you can do to help alleviate her pain.
# What you absolutely must NOT do while your lady is in labor.
# Your role in the delivery or birthing room.
# Suggested items for your "Labor Tool Kit".
# What to do if you believe that some hospital procedures seem not medically necessary.
# What's a spinal block? An epidural? An episiotomy?

As I read through each chapters in the book, I start comparing with how my husband fared when I gave birth to Ben 2 years ago and I realised he did most of the things from the book (thank God!) but there's one thing which was not mentioned in the book when it comes to pain relief methods. Maybe it's not popular or recommended anymore in overseas, but I thank God that my husband realised AND remembered that we could use Enthonox (laughing gas) as a pain relief method. While I was busy trying to remember and focus on my breathing exercises (which was also reminded by my husband!), my husband happened to see the gas mask hanging right above my labor bed and asked our gynae whether I could use it and the moment our gynae said 'SURE! GO AHEAD!' I was hanging onto the mask as if it was my lifeline!

I find the great thing about this book is that the author mentioned about the dangers of pain medication where it mentioned: "pain medications, once administered, cannot be rescinded and you may need another drug or procedure to remedy the ill effects. These in turn, introduce their own risks". (taken from page 42)

I also like the points listed on what makes a great birthing partner where the author mentioned some things that the father-to-be can do (or not do) just to provide support and encouragement for their birth partner.

From this book, I learned something new on the reason why mum-to-be normally get started on an IV drip. Maybe it's just me, but I really don't know why (I thought it's to provide some sort of nutrition or feeding for energy and strength) until I read this book which mentioned that it is done as a preventive measure in the event that medications must be administered later.

What would be great for the book is if it also comes with illustrations or pictures to accompany the points in the book.

 Do get a copy of this book if you want to know more on what to expect and to be more prepared during labor & delivery.

• You can purchase the book (hardcopy version or ebook version) from http://www.fathertobe.org/book/
  
• You can also purchase the A Concise Guide to Labor and Delivery for Fathers-to-Be book from Amazon.
  

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a  softcopy of the book (which looks great as I read it on my iPad) by Jim from the publishing company in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine. And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"

OK, I know the song title is a bit mouthful but do take a listen to this latest single from Laura Warshauer entitled "To Will and Kate, Meet Me at Exit 109". And while we are on this topic, I would like to congratulate the happy royal couple and wish them the best of happiness in their journey together!

Anyway, back to this review... I received the press release on this upcoming single and decided to take a listen to it and found that it is quite a catchy song and her voice is sultry and throaty and dreamy at the same time, nice voice!

More info from the press release I received:

"New Jersey songstress Laura Warshauer will be releasing her tribute single dedicated to the royal couple, Will and Kate.   Laura met her classmates Will and Kate during her freshman year at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland.  Inspired by her experiences there, and while reflecting on her lifelong journey as a singer-songwriter growing up in New Jersey, she felt compelled to write this moving song. 

Laura elaborated, “When I heard the amazing news of Will and Kate’s engagement, I remembered those Sunday night lasagna dinners we all had freshman year at [St. Salvator’s Hall] and was looking through photos [and] scrapbooks from that year. The memories inspired this song.”  The song will be featured in the upcoming PEOPLE Magazine and website.

Produced by Thom Panunzio (Stevie Nicks, Bruce Springsteen), “To Will and Kate, Meet Me at Exit 109” will be available on iTunes in digital format and CD format by the end of April 2011.  The song will also serve as a bonus track featured on her upcoming full-length indie debut, The Pink Chariot Mixtape (Spring/Summer 2011).

Armed with an empowered musical style reminiscent of Stevie Nicks, Laura is poised to become a defining voice in the next wave of independent singer-songwriters/female rockers.  Stay tuned for more details regarding The Pink Chariot Mixtape and tour dates."

Like I mentioned earlier in the first paragraph, I find that this is quite a catchy song and Laura's voice is sultry and throaty and dreamy at the same time and I find myself keep repeating the song! It is just so so catchy!

You can watch the video below which includes photos of the royal couple that Laura took when she was a fellow student with them at St. Andrews College in Scotland! It's a touching story from when they first met and see if you don't agree with what I think of the song:

**Note: Laura Warshauer - "To Will and Kate, Meet Me at Exit 109" performance/photo montage from Scott Ross on Vimeo.

You can browse through her songs in Amazon website.

I would like to give a note of thanks to Gemma from The Musebox for this wonderful opportunity to review this great single! Also, I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with the link to listen to the single to assist with my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.