Parenting Without Regret

Women who opt not to be mothers are frequently warned that they will regret their decision later in life, yet we rarely talk about the possibility that the opposite might also be true—that women who have children might regret it. Drawing on years of research interviewing women from a variety of socioeconomic, educational, and professional backgrounds, sociologist Orna Donath treats regret as a feminist issue: as regret marks the road not taken, we need to consider whether alternative paths for women currently are blocked off. She asks that we pay attention to what is forbidden by rules governing motherhood, time, and emotion, including the cultural assumption that motherhood is a “natural” role for women—for the sake of all women, not just those who regret becoming mothers. If we are disturbed by the idea that a woman might regret becoming a mother, Donath says, our response should not be to silence and shame these women; rather, we need to ask honest and difficult questions about how society pushes women into motherhood and why those who reconsider it are still seen as a danger to the status quo. Groundbreaking, thoughtful, and provocative, this is an especially needed book in our current political climate, as women's reproductive rights continue to be at the forefront of national debates.

No Regrets Parenting is a book for busy parents in our busy times. Juggling family and professional lives is not a course taught in high school or college--many parents find the challenges of being all things to all people daunting. This theme is ubiquitous in today's culture--movies, theatre, books, magazine features, and human interest news stories all find the challenge of raising children to be prime fodder for audiences. How to do it all? How to stay sane while trying to do it all? No Regrets Parenting teaches parents how to experience the joy and depth of the parenting experience amidst the chaos and choreography of daily routines. Car pool, bath time, soccer practice, homework, dinner hour, and sleepovers all become more than just obligations and hurdles to overcome to get through the day. They are opportunities for intimate and meaningful time--quality time--with young kids. It's not how much time you have with your kids, but how you spend that time that matters in the life and legacy of a young family. No Regrets Parenting readjusts parents' perspectives and priorities, helping them find the time to do it all and feel good about your kids' childhood. There is a simple, single truth for every parent. Your kids need you to be there. They need to see who you are and how you live your life. And, in return, they will help you to see who you are and how you should be living your life. For all of that to happen, parents need time with their kids. Memorable and meaningful time. No Regrets Parenting is about time. Finding enough of it and making the most of it.

The shocking treatise that was a bestselling international media sensation upon its 2007 publication in France now makes its eagerly anticipated English-language debut. A mother of two herself, Maier makes her deadly serious, if at times laugh-out-loud-funny, argument with all the unbridled force of her famously wicked intellect. In forty to-the-point, impressively erudite chapters drawing on the realms of history, child psychology, politics, and the environment, Maier effortlessly skewers the idealized notion of parenthood as a natural and beautiful endeavour. Enough with this “baby-mania” that is plaguing modern society, says Maier, it’s nothing but brainwashing. Are you prepared to give up your free time, dinners with friends, spontaneous romantic getaways, and even the luxury of uninterrupted thought for the “vicious little dwarves” that will treat you like their servant, cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars, and end up resenting you? Speaking to the still “child-free”, to fellow suffering parents, and to adamant procreationists alike, No Kids is a controversial, thought-provoking, and undeniably entertaining read. Reasons to avoid having kids: •You will lose touch with your friends •Your sex life will be over •Children cost a fortune • Child-rearing is endless drudgery •Vacations will be nightmares •You’ll lose your identity and become just “mom” or “dad” •Your children will become mindless drones of capitalism •The planet’s already overcrowded •Your children will inevitably disappoint you

In Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating, a family doctor specializing in childhood feeding joins forces with a speech pathologist to help you support your child’s nutrition, healthy growth, and end meal-time anxiety (for your child and you) once and for all. Are you parenting a child with ‘extreme’ picky eating? Do you worry your child isn’t getting the nutrition he or she needs? Are you tired of fighting over food, suspect that what you’ve tried may be making things worse, but don’t know how to help? Having a child with ‘extreme’ picky eating is frustrating and sometimes scary. Children with feeding disorders, food aversions, or selective eating often experience anxiety around food, and the power struggles can negatively impact your relationship with your child. Children with extreme picky eating can also miss out on parties or camp because they can’t find “safe” foods. But you don’t have to choose between fighting over every bite and only serving a handful of safe foods for years on end. Helping Your Child with Extreme Picky Eating offers hope, even if your child has “failed” feeding therapies before. After gaining a foundation of understanding of your child’s challenges and the dynamics at play, you’ll be ready for the 5 steps (built around the clinically proven STEPS+ approach—Supportive Treatment of Eating in PartnershipS) that transform feeding and meals so your child can learn to enjoy a variety of foods in the right amounts for healthy growth. You’ll discover specific strategies for dealing with anxiety, low appetite, sensory challenges, autism spectrum-related feeding issues, oral motor delay, and medically-based feeding problems. Tips and exercises reinforce what you’ve learned, and dozens of “scripts” help you respond to your child in the heat of the moment, as well as to others in your child’s life (grandparents or your child’s teacher) as you help them support your family on this journey. This book will prove an invaluable guide to restore peace to your dinner table and help you raise a healthy eater.

Building and Sustaining a Thriving Leadership Culture Essential to every healthy church is a biblical model of leadership. In the New Testament, church leadership is built around a team of elders working together, each bringing his own unique skills and gifts to the cause of shepherding the flock God entrusted to them. However, in many churches today the principle of plurality in leadership is often misunderstood, mistakenly applied, or completely ignored. Dave Harvey encourages church leaders to prioritize plurality for the surprising ways that it helps churches to flourish. This book not only builds a compelling case for churches to adopt and maintain biblical elder pluralities guided by solid leadership but also supplies practical tools to help elders work together for transformation. Download the free study guide.

Sometimes in our childhood, we fantasize about our future parenting skills and how we will be the ultimate mom or dad. These grand visions rarely survive the first few months of our own journey as parents-once that specter of self-will first manifests in our new bundle of joy. We quickly learn that while parenting is infinitely rewarding and a wonderful blessing, it is also a difficult, sometimes confusing, often thankless responsibility. We find ourselves wishing for a clear, simple, and preferably, illustrated instruction manual. In Purposeful and Persistent Parenting, John and Cindy Raquet seek to share, through encouraging examples of their journey toward God-honoring parenthood, the lessons they learned in raising their eight children. With personal stories of triumph and failure, goal-setting (and resetting), many practical tips, and a little blue tape, they hope that this work will be a valuable companion on your own adventure in parenting and instrumental in helping you to truly enjoy the work of raising your children.