Memory Making Mom

What will your children remember of their childhood? Calling all moms who want to break out of monotony, distraction, and busyness to a life of making lasting memories with your kids and drawing your family closer to one another and to God! What’s the solution to gaining the balanced, meaningful life you desire with your family? Create traditions that bring joy and significance! Popular "Smartter Each Day" blogger and mom of three, Jessica Smartt explains why memory-making is the puzzle piece that today’s families are longing for. As Jessica shares her ideas, traditions, and beautiful insights on parenting in this well-written resource guide, she highlights the tradition-gifts kids need most with 300+ unique traditions including: Food: memories that stick to your ribs Holidays: fall bucket lists, crooked Christmas trees, and lingering over Lent Spontaneity: going on adventures Faith: why you need the puzzle box Memory-Making Mom is jam-packed with her own favorite childhood traditions, those she has started with her own children, traditions tied to the Christian faith, and additional ideas that you can take and tailor to suit your needs. Jessica also offers spiritual guidance and practical encouragement to modern parents to keep on adventuring—even when they are fighting distractions, are on a budget, and exhausted.

As parents we want to safeguard our children from the pressures and influences of the world, but also prepare them for age-appropriate realities. How do we find that balance? Jessica Smartt shares ways to be more aware, proactive, and protective, but also adventurous with our kids. A former English teacher and homeschooling mother of three, Jessica Smartt felt the weight of helping prepare her kids for life, seeking to raise her children with a sense of adventure, self-confidence, manners, faith, and the ability to use technology wisely. Let Them Be Kids is Jessica’s offering of grace and confidence to moms, providing practical ideas to meet the challenge of raising children. Part story, part guidebook, every chapter includes doable parenting strategies and encouragement for the journey, equipping moms with ways to provide a safe, healthy, Christ-centered upbringing for our children. Her well-researched, tested methods, woven together with her personal stories and witty humor, deliver wisdom on tough topics, such as: Managing technology and fostering creative playtime Balancing family time versus sports and extracurriculars How and why to let your kids be awkward Protecting innocence and purity Showing grace when kids disobey If you want to conquer fear and find the truth that transforms entire families, Let Them Be Kids will show you that it’s not only possible but essential to enjoy every special moment of building family values together. And it serves as a gentle reminder that, someday, you'll be very glad you did.

This edition of the inspirational #1 bestseller draws on a new year of Jann's diaries and her mother's final days. When beloved singer and songwriter Jann Arden's parents built a house just across the way from her, she thought they would be her refuge from the demands of her career. And for a time that was how it worked. But then her dad fell ill and died, and just days after his funeral, her mom was diagnosed with Alzheimer's. In Feeding My Mother, Jann shares what it is like for a daughter to become her mother's caregiver—in her own frank and funny words, and in recipes she invented to tempt her mom. Full of heartbreak, but also full of love and wonder.

Your pregnancy story is a special one. Document your most precious moments from this season of life in this elegant keepsake journal and memory book. Growing You is a place to celebrate and chronicle your pregnancy journey, reflecting on the growth, anticipation, and memories that you want to hold onto as a mother. This heirloom-quality book, created by the author of the popular baby book As You Grow, is designed with a timeless look and archival paper so that you can one day pass it along to your child. Growing You includes: Space to journal your feelings and experiences about pregnancy and your birth story A section to document your prenatal appointments and growth Writing prompts to record precious milestones such as baby showers and prepping your nursery Pages to document your baby's birth day Pocket folder for sonogram photos, letters from loved ones, and other mementos And more! Special Features: Chic, gender-neutral design Elegant linen cover Acid-free and archival paper Generous trim size offers ample space for photos Lay-flat design created by a beautiful gold spiral binding allows you to easily write in the book

Now available in paperback, Dasha Tolstikova’s acclaimed graphic novel A Year Without Mom follows twelve-year-old Dasha through a year full of turmoil after her mother leaves for America. It is the early 1990s in Moscow, and political change is in the air. But Dasha is more worried about her own challenges as she negotiates family, friendships and school without her mother. Just as she begins to find her own feet, she gets word that she is to join her mother in America — a place that seems impossibly far from everything and everyone she loves. Dasha Tolstikova’s major talent is on full display in this gorgeous and subtly illustrated graphic novel. Key Text Features map Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.5.7 Analyze how visual and multimedia elements contribute to the meaning, tone, or beauty of a text (e.g., graphic novel, multimedia presentation of fiction, folktale, myth, poem). CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.6.3 Describe how a particular story's or drama's plot unfolds in a series of episodes as well as how the characters respond or change as the plot moves toward a resolution.

"I'm scared I'll forget you]]' From the perspective of a young child, Joanna Rowland artfully describes what it is like to remember and grieve a loved one who has died. The child in the story creates a memory box to keep mementos and written memories of the loved one, to help in the grieving process. Heartfelt and comforting, The Memory Box will help children and adults talk about this very difficult topic together. The unique point of view allows the reader to imagine the loss of any they have loved - a friend, family member, or even a pet. A parent guide in the back includes information on helping children manage the complex and difficult emotions they feel when they lose someone they love, as well as suggestions on how to create their own memory box.

"The subject of physical and mental deterioration and its consequences on people and their loved ones is one that most of us prefer to avoid, even those of us who provide medical care to the elderly. Yet, this is often part of the human experience. Information written on the subject is usually dry and didactic. Kathy Stewart has granted the reader access to her world, the assisted living community, where extraordinary needs are met by extraordinary people. Through interesting, illustrative, and poignant vignettes, a realistic, often intense and yet hopeful experience is accorded the reader. This book, crafted professionally and compassionately, is a gem that should be read not only by relatives of people suffering progressive memory loss but by all of us, since many of us will eventually be touched by this situation in our lifetimes." -Mark H. Greenberg, MD, FACR, Rheumatologist, Author of "Doctor, Why Do I Hurt So Much?" "Few events impact an entire family more than the onset of dementia in a parent, spouse, sibling, or close friend. Drawing upon her own personal and professional experiences, Kathy Stewart has developed a practical guide for caregivers. The book is easy to read, yet it provides a wealth of useful information which is accessible to all. It should provide knowledge and comfort for anyone caring for an individual with dementia." -George A. Kuchel, M.D., FRCPC, Professor, Citicorp Chair in Geriatrics & Gerontology, Director, UConn Center on Aging, University of Connecticut Health Center "Kathy Stewart has provided an outstanding, informative, and useful guide. This book is required reading for all adult children and caregivers who seek to provide the best possible care for Mom and Dad. I wish I had this book when my own mother developed stroke-related dementia and needed extensive specialized care." -Elly Trepman, M.D., Professional Associate, Department of Medical Microbiology, University of Manitoba, www.manuscriptsurgeon.com