I'm a full-time mummy

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to review this wonderful book called: "UNSTUFF". It took me some time to read it came at some busy  time of my life - rushing to bake Christmas cookies, New Year and so on... So without further ado,

Author: Hayley & Michael DiMarco
Publisher:  Tyndale House Publishers
ISBN: 9781414334783
Paperback: 224 pages
Dimension: 8.25 X 5.50 (inches)

Product description from the publisher's website:

"God . . . and stuff. Everything in the universe falls into one of these two categories. Which is more important to you? (It’s not a trick question.) In Unstuff: Making Room in Your Life for What Really Matters, popular authors Hayley and Michael DiMarco take a close look at what’s in your wallet, your heart, your house, and your mind to reveal the pleasures and perils of stuff—and the joy, peace, and freedom that comes from learning to live with less.

In this real-life look at “how it’s done,” the DiMarcos take an uncomfortably close look at the cost of their love affair with stuff. They start by Unstuffing their house—getting rid of anything they don’t need by giving away, selling, or throwing out items that only add to their love for more. Then, kicking it up a notch, this family of three travels across the country with nothing more than they can fit in a motor home . . . and discovers that the really important stuff goes with them."

I love this book! At first I was a bit skeptical at the title, I mean, "Unstuff"? What do you mean unstuff? What is there to unstuff? But oh boy, am I glad I requested this book! As I read further, I realised the message the authors are trying to point out. Now back to the book, it is categorised into 6 sections (Wallet Stuff, Mind Stuff, Body Stuff, Love Stuff, Worship Stuff and Future Stuff)

In the 1st section, (Wallet Stuff), I love the statement of "When we take on debt, we're saying we want more than what God has allotted for us and we go against his command to "owe nothing to anyone" (Romans 13:8)". Which is why I do my very best to clear off any debts I might have, purchase made using credit cards (to collect and redeem points) will be immediately settled the moment the transaction was reflected in my bank account.

I'm also deeply inspired by the statement "no woman does her faith or her man a service by wanting more stuff. And no man does his God or his wife a service by believing that more stuff is what God wants him to provide". I also like the parable of the Delivery Driver and find it inspiring as well!

What I don't like about this book?

I don't like that some of the important points they are trying to emphasise are not standardised. You can see the points bolded, italized, capitalised or size enlarged and it is kind of a clutter and hard to read. I do have a bit difficulty in trying to understand whether the points are important or worth noting down.

What I think would be better is to just use the same font size and type and just put a different color, red perhaps to emphasise that the statement is worth pondering on or something. Or if colored fonts is not a good idea, then just plain putting the sentence in bold would do, but not mixing it up with other styles! Other than that, this book is just perfect! And I like how the authors included snippets of their diary of their life on the road and some inspiring statements here and there which we can use and share on Twitter as well.

If you think you need to unstuff your life, do consider getting a copy of this book. You will not regret it!

You can purchase this book from Tyndale House Publishers, ChristianBooks.com and many more.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a copy of the book  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"

Few weeks ago, I posted about this awesome Stop Reacting and Start Responding™ campaign and that I'll be following up that post with my review on the e-book which I received as part of my participation in the campaign. So here goes:

Title: Stop Reacting and Start Responding™
Author: Sharon Silver
Publisher:  One Voice Publishing
ISBN: 9780983156109
Ebook: 224 pages

Description from the product page:
"There are many wonderful books out there sharing new ways to parent. The question is, “Do you have the emotional capacity, or time, to read about a new method when you’re in the middle of a whirlwind of anger or reactions?”  Stop Reacting and Start Responding™ addresses that issue.

When a parent is involved in a whirlwind of emotions, anger or reactions, it’s hard to think. Being too emotional to think also makes it difficult to search for answers to change what’s going on so you can arrive at a calmer outcome. Stop Reacting and Start Responding™:
* Is a no-nonsense, reality-based book written in the “blog” style, using short, concise tips
* Offers quick reminders of what to do when a par­ent and/or child is reacting
* Tackles the emotions that are produced during the everyday situations that
* parents face
* Explores a different way to look at situations, and shares a new perspective that ignites a parent’s own wisdom, allowing them to resolve situations calmly, lovingly, and firmly
* Allows parents to enjoy the read and then use it as a tool to remind and support them when they or their child are reacting

A per­fect example would be, when a child says, “No!” A lot of parenting information only addresses how to stop a child from saying “No!” Stop Reacting and Start Responding™ explores why a child might be saying “No!” and shows a parent how to acknowledge those emotions, while teaching the child what they should be doing instead.  And does it all without punishment."

This book is for parents with children from ages 1 to 10. I love the title! Stop Reacting and Start Responding! That's the way how us, parents should do!

Plus, this book is very easy to read! I like that the book  is divided  into 15 chapters and from each chapters, it's further described into situations that parents encounter on a daily basis. You can just flip over to any pages and you'll bound to identify with one of the many situations yourself and learn from it!

I like the tips on giving our children choices (two choices only of both are approved by ourselves, that way, either choice our child choose is still OK with us!),  not ignoring our child (as it will let them think they need to do more things to get our attention!), how to handle children's tantrums, the importance of our tone of voice when disciplining our child and so on. I do however feel that some of the situations given are not applicable to me yet.

In my opinion, the "Stop Reacting and Start Responding™" is a good choice for parents to learn more about how they can respond to their child in a positive way!

You can get this book from http://www.proactiveparenting.net/the_book.

** Disclosure: I am a participant in a Living My MoMent campaign for Proactive Parenting™ and have received the e-book Stop Reacting and Start Responding™ by Sharon Silver as part of my participation.

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"

I'm so happy I get to be a part of the Stop Reacting and Start Responding™ awesome campaign! I will be posting up my review on the free e-book  which I get to review soon as I'm halfway reading it at the moment and yeap, so far so good!

The following is an excerpt from the press release of the Stop Reacting and Start Responding™ campaign just to give you guys an idea of what I'm participating in:

Living My MoMent and Proactive Parenting™ are joining forces to celebrate the launch of Living My MoMent’s new blogger reviewer program and its first review – parenting educator Sharon Silver’s book Stop Reacting and Start Responding™. Silver and Abbey Fatica, owner of Living My MoMent, LLC, will be live on MomTV.com to interact, discuss, and answer questions that the reviewers have about the book and their own parenting issues.

The purpose of the blogger reviewer program is to allow the community to create and maintain relationships with Living My MoMent, LLC and the companies that are represented.

Approximately 250 bloggers handpicked by Fatica will be able to read and review Silver’s book prior to the MomTv show on January 5th. After reading the book, they can pose questions to Silver which will be answered live on air. These bloggers will then take their responses to their blogs and social media networks and share what they have learned from the book as a way to promote Silver’s book to their communities.

Stop Reacting and Start Responding™ allows kids to be kids and parents to remain in authority. When parents are stressed, their minds become flooded with emotions and they react. When parents respond their minds remain clear enough to activate the learning needed for the situation.

Join Living My MoMent,LLC and Proactive Parenting™ on MomTV.com January 5th, 2011 at 9PM EST to gain insight into the most pressing issues parents face today.

** Disclosure: I am a participant in a Living My MoMent campaign for Proactive Parenting™ and have received the e-book Stop Reacting and Start Responding™ by Sharon Silver as part of my participation.