Showing titles in Motherhood

Sweet, supportive, dependable, selfless. Long before she had children of her own, journalist Carrie Mullins knew how mothers should behave. But how? Where did these expectations come from—and, more importantly, are they serving the mothers whose lives they shape? Carrie's suspicion, later crystallized while raising two small children, was that our culture’s idealization of motherhood was not only painfully limiting but harmful, leaving women to cope with impossible standards—standards rarely created by mothers themselves.

We've all had to make decisions in our lives about what to keep and what to toss—habits, attitudes, friends, even homes. In this new collection of essays, Elizabeth Passarella explores the ups and downs of moving forward—both emotionally and logistically—with her welcome candor and sense of humor that listeners have come to love. It Was an Ugly Couch Anyway will make listeners laugh, cry, and feel a little less alone as they navigate their own lives that are filled with uncertainty, change, and things beyond their control.

Welcome to essayist Kimberly Harrington’s poetic and funny world of motherhood, womanhood, and humanhood, not necessarily in that order. It’s a place of loud parenting, fierce loving, too much social media, and occasional inner monologues where timeless debates are resolved such as Pro/Con: Caving to PTO Bake Sale Pressure (“Pro: Skim the crappiest brownies for myself. Con: They’re really crappy.”) With accessibility and wit, she captures the emotions around parenthood in artful and earnest ways.

Suddenly it dawns on you, and you exclaim, "I'm a mom!" But after the elation, you are overwhelmed, apprehensive, bewildered about the huge responsibilities of parenting. You know intuitively that the way you respond to your new role has eternal implications in the life of your child. You need help! The Power of a Positive Mom offers seven time-tested principles that will transform your role, to make you not just a mother but a Positive Mom.

If technology is the new addiction, then multitasking is the new marching order. With our never-ending to-do lists and jam-packed schedules, it's no wonder we're distracted. But this isn't the way it has to be. Special education teacher, New York Times best-selling author, and mother Rachel Macy Stafford says enough is enough. Tired of losing track of what matters most in life, Rachel began practicing simple strategies that enabled her to momentarily let go of largely meaningless distractions and engage in meaningful soul-to-soul connections.

So, it’s your first pregnancy? You might feel a little anxious. Worried. Wound up? There’re a million things you don’t know, and even more things you would never think of. Wouldn’t it be nice if someone gave you the secrets to make life easier during pregnancy? If you could just listen to a book. Pick up the best tips, tricks, and advice to ease away the worries. Get all the best information in a single resource. Information like, what not to buy so you can save money on the essentials.

Expert hypnobirthing teacher and founder of The Positive Birth Company, Siobhan Miller has made it her mission to change the way women around the world approach and experience birth. Through her teaching she seeks to educate and empower women—and their birth partners—so that they can enjoy amazing and positive birth experiences, however they choose to bring their babies into the world. Siobhan debunks common myths about hypnobirthing and explains why she believes it can make every type of birth a better experience—from a water birth at home to an unplanned caesarean in theatre.

Doulas empower mothers to plan for and secure the birthing experiences they want. Lindsey Bliss provides the resources for creating a sound birth plan and having a positive childbirth experience.

Nathan was different and Sally knew it. From his early childhood, Nathan was bursting with creativity and uncontainable energy, struggling not only with learning issues but also with anxiety and OCD. He saw the world through his own unique lens - one that often caused him to be labeled as "bad", "troubled", or someone in need of "fixing". Bravely choosing to listen to her motherly intuition rather than the loud voices of the world, Sally dared to believe that Nathan's differences could be part of an intentional design.

Becoming a parent, once the expected outcome of adulthood, is increasingly viewed as a potential threat to the most basic goals and aspirations of modern life. We seek self-fulfillment; we want to liberate women to find meaning and self-worth outside the home; and we wish to protect the planet from the ravages of climate change. Weighing the pros and cons of having children, millennials and zoomers are finding it increasingly difficult to judge in its favor. With lucid argument and passionate prose, Anastasia Berg and Rachel Wiseman offer the guidance necessary to move beyond uncertainty.

Picking up where her national bestseller, Dial Down the Drama, left off, Colleen O’Grady’s Dial Up the Dream supports you in navigating your daughter’s last days at home and her transition to adulthood. This emerging-adult stage can be even more stressful on both mother and daughter than the teen years, because the stakes are higher and the changes to the relationship more profound.

On a hot July night on Cape Cod when Adrienne was 14, her mother, Malabar, woke her at midnight with five simple words that would set the course of both of their lives for years to come: Ben Souther just kissed me. Adrienne instantly became her mother’s confidante and helpmate, blossoming in the sudden light of her attention, and from then on, Malabar came to rely on her daughter to help orchestrate what would become an epic affair with her husband’s closest friend.

Birth is a feminist issue. It’s the feminist issue nobody’s talking about. For too long women have been told, ‘a healthy baby is all that matters’. This book dares to say women matter too. Finally blasting the feminist spotlight into the labour ward, Milli Hill encourages women everywhere to stand and deliver, insisting that birth is no longer left off the list in discussions about female power, control and agency.

What to listen to after What to Expect.... A badass, feminist, and personal deep-dive into the science and culture of pregnancy and early motherhood that debunks myths and dated assumptions, offering guidance and camaraderie to women navigating one of the biggest and most profound changes in their lives. Like most first-time mothers, Angela Garbes was filled with questions when she became pregnant. What exactly is a placenta? How does a body go into labor? Why is breast best? What are the signs and effects of postpartum depression?

Am I the Reason I’m Not Getting Pregnant? gets women struggling with infertility ready to unleash unshakable confidence and certainty on the road to motherhood. Am I the Reason I’m Not Getting Pregnant? reveals the secret to trading that fear for the unwavering confidence and certainty that women are truly doing everything they can. Rosanne Austin is the coach women around the world turn to when they want success on their fertility journey.

Is cosleeping safe? How important is breastfeeding? Are food allergies preventable? Should we be worried about the aluminum in vaccines? Searching for answers to these tough parenting questions can yield a deluge of conflicting advice. In this revised and expanded edition of The Science of Mom, Alice Callahan, a science writer whose work appears in the New York Times and the Washington Post, recognizes that families must make their own decisions and gives parents the tools to evaluate the evidence for themselves.

There is so much noise surrounding pregnancy and birth. There are countless books teeming with information—what test does what, the "rights" and "wrongs" of eating, and "safe" or "risky" lifestyle choices—but few that hold a woman through the experience, acting as an elder sister, a matriarch, or a circle of women might hold her—with compassion, nonjudgment, and, most of all, wisdom. To the authors of Nine Golden Months, this is exactly what's needed now, in an era of high-speed living, endless demands, and more than a little anxiety and fear.

Fit to Burst is a book of parenting "field notes" written by a mom in the thick of it all. It is chock-full of humorous examples and fresh advice covering issues familiar to moms, such as guilt cycles, temptations to be ungrateful or bitter, enjoying your kids, and learning how to honor Jesus by giving even in the mundane stuff. But this book also addresses less familiar topics, including the impact moms have on the relationships between dads and kids, the importance of knowing when to laugh at kid-sized sin, and more.

A short and sassy guide to navigating the first phases of your journey as a single mom. These 21 tips shot from the hip and hard-won wisdom of a veteran single mom cover such important topics as building a community, teaching your kids to cook, managing finances, getting a dating life, and generally staying sane while keeping your sense of humor intact along the way.

Anxiety among mothers is a growing but largely unrecognized crisis. In the transition to mother­hood and the years that follow, countless women suffer from overwhelming feelings of fear, grief, and obsession that do not fit neatly within the outmoded category of “postpartum depression.” These women soon discover that there is precious little support or time for their care, even as expectations about what mothers should do and be continue to rise.