A new favorite...

You may have noticed my books read list is grown greatly. I've actually already read past the goal I set for myself back in January and it's only half way through the year.

Let's just say, evidently I use to watch a lot more tv than I wanted to admit.

A few weeks ago, I placed my monthly amazon order for June and while searching through the suggested books amazon thinks I might like, I stumbled across this one.

A Sane Woman's Guide to Raising a Large Family
Mary Ostyn

I needed one more item to throw in my cart to get the free shipping, it got great reviews, and at six bucks, I figured it was worth a look.

I must say that I was pleasantly surprised with how much I liked it. I've read several parenting books these past few years and after a few, they get pretty repetitive.

The author is definitely an expert in this area considering she is a mother of ten! Now obviously, most of the moms reading this will not be the next Michelle Duggar, but pretty much everything she writes about could easily be applied to a family with one or 20 kids. I was actually kinda surprised because the way the book starts out, the author pretty much writes as though anything over two children is considered a large family.

Here are a few of the chapter titles that gives you an idea of what she writes about...

~Growing a Family: Are we crazy to want another baby?

~Money: Just how broke are we going to be?

~Affordable Vacations: Is a Disney Vacation a Childhood Essential?

~Parenthood and Stress: Will bedtime ever come?

These are just to name a few. She also writes about school success, encouraging sibling friendships, celebrating each child, etc. Some of the tips and tricks she mentions might seem pretty common sense, but I repeatedly found myself stopping and thinking "how often do I actually practice that?"

My absolute favorite thing about the book is that the author really strives to drive her children away from the materialistic world our society is constantly throwing in our faces, and back to a more simple way of life. That being said, she's the type that's not living in a commune, growing her own food, making her own clothes, and not saving her legs (not that there's anything wrong with that if that's what your into). She's big on the fact that her children don't have to be involved in every activity offered or have only name brand clothes and all the newest toys. She has real life practical ways to strive for a more simple life for your children and a great way of explaining why. This is something that David and I really want to strive for and something we've talked about long before Olivia came into the picture.

In less than 200 pages, I think I got more usefulness out of this little book than I've gotten out of the last five I've read. Whether your a mom of one or ten, I think this book is great!