Need Advice?

Today I have been thinking about what all it has been to be a mom.  25 years to reflect on.  And it makes me really wonder what I wish I had to help me along the way.  You know the 'how to' books that you could have used way back when. Yeah, when I thought I knew it all!

Well as we all know babies do not come with owner's manuals.  Heck we never read the one on our new cars so what makes us think we would if it was issued at birth.  But sure enough we all need one.  Well Quirk Books has one that is just like that.  The Baby Owner's Manual gives you just what you need.  How to operate, trouble shoot and maintain for the first year.  Darling to put in the diaper bag for a new mom and dad's Christmas present or baby shower gift.  It looks much like a info graphic in book form.  Easy to understand and handles about every situation.  There is even an app, The Baby Owner's Data Tracker,  you can download so you have the answers right at your fingertips.

Well once we get on past the baby stage then we have to look at raising our child.  Parenting is a nerve wracking concept yet we all muddle through it some how.  Of course some of us are better than others.  And we all have those 'ah ha' moments that keep us trying our very best.  What I would have loved having is "The Best Advice I Ever Got on Parenting" to help me see what I could focus on doing better.  I will tell you that everyone gives you advice, some good and some not so good.  But to have some of the best all in one place makes a better 'bathroom reader' than anything else.  Why a 'bathroom reader'?  Well as any parent can tell you, it is the only time (maybe) you can have time to read!  I will pass on my sage advice.  Remember first and foremost you are raising a future adult!

Well I raised my daughter from a babe to a child and on to a young woman.  But what would I want to pass on to her for advice most of all?  How about what it is to be a woman.  I tried to explain to Dear Hubby woman are a whole different race than men.  We are the energizer bunny without the cute floppy ears and tale.  Yeah that had him thinking of an entirely different bunny right off the bat! But the next biggest issue is remembering your a Woman! not just a mom.  It is often confused.  Not Your Mother's Book...On Being a Woman is a great collection of stories from real women on being US!  From pajama jeans to hot flashes to less than perfect boobies, we all have those moments of real life.  Here is story after story of the great realizations that come to us during them. Also pop over and see new titles coming up in the series.  Why?  Well they are accepting submissions for stories.  I know the bloggers around here have more than one tale to tell.

So what is left.  How about what we forget about as moms.  That we are also wives.  Or better yet lovers, friends and sage buddies as time goes by to our darling hubbies.  Yes our focus for years is raising our bundles of joy into amazing people.  Then we find we succeed as they go off in the world.  As we slowly turn back into our homes we find this man who has been waiting on us to return.  Oh how our marriages need to be nurtured just as much as our children.  How do we do it?  Well do it all?  Why not follow The Best Advice I Ever Got on Marriage as a guidelines?  This is the one we should be reading while we are waiting to get the kids from school, in line at the beauty shop or sitting in the doctors office.  All those times when we are wondering what is coming up next we could be planning it out ourselves.

So yes, how to books, advice books, story books....all one in the same.  But oh my they could very well be the extra lil bit that makes your life from one of duty to one of achievement.  It just is a matter of what we are looking to achieve I guess.  I am thankful to have all four now from the publishers to share with you.  All I want to know is why did I not have them 25 years ago.  Don't wait around like me.  Add them to that to do list....yeah right at the top!