Okay, so it took me a few months - but step one of my goal to blog is complete! I am finally posting a review of my first book, Cleaning House, written by Kay Wills Wyma. I got a free copy on bloggingforbooks.com just for writing a review. How sweet?!
I know I got the idea for this back in January and we are now approaching April but I should note, just because I feel the need to justify myself, that I have also taken up spinning three times a week, am working full time AND I'm the best wife and mom ever (says my husband). So yeah...three months isn't that bad, right?
Anyway, I really think ya'll should check out Wyma's book. If you have kids or are in any sort of ministry where you're helping kids or teens prepare for adulthood, just do it.
****
Based on her own real-life experiment to stop enabling her kids to live in a self-centered, serve-me world, Kay Wills Wyma has crafted a witty, easy-to-read book called Cleaning House.
Cleaning House is structured into twelve main chapters, each one focusing on a single life skill that Wyma wants her children to hone before entering adulthood. The chapters address anything from simple organizational skills to practicing hospitality and planning a party. Each chapter engages the reader with true dialogue, the constant ups and downs of fighting entitlement, and the many small victories that unfold throughout the year-long experiment.
I felt all throughout the book like I WAS Kay. She's just so...normal. She's a mom who loves her kids and wants to teach them how to become thriving adults. But she's way funnier than I am. You win some you lose some.
This issue of entitlement is a big deal and I was just refreshed to see someone doing something about it in her own sphere of influence. (And also acknowledging her own fault.) I see this entitlement all the time - parents who rush to hover and "save" their kids rather than allowing them to problem solve and learn responsibility. And so the kids are left with only a sense of "I can't do it" and a thousand other excuses that we unintentionally reinforce daily. And then all of us adults sit back shaking our heads at this lazy generation as if we had nothing to do with it... not that it's COMPLETELY our fault, but our enabling tendencies and desire for convenience sure don't help.
Reading this book helped me to think critically and practically about ways to teach my own son (before it's too late) how to be responsible, mind his manners, and serve others. It also made me realize that my own convenience is NOT a good excuse not to teach my kid even the simplest things - like how to navigate a grocery store. (It's just easier to go alone, right?)
Overall, I highly recommend this book for all parents out there who are probably doing too much, picking up wet towels off bathroom floors, making beds, folding laundry, calling your adult child's landlord to get them housing at their graduate school - all because "if I don't do it, who will?" Kick your feet up, and let your kids do the wash while you read this light-hearted but very needed book!
I know I got the idea for this back in January and we are now approaching April but I should note, just because I feel the need to justify myself, that I have also taken up spinning three times a week, am working full time AND I'm the best wife and mom ever (says my husband). So yeah...three months isn't that bad, right?
Anyway, I really think ya'll should check out Wyma's book. If you have kids or are in any sort of ministry where you're helping kids or teens prepare for adulthood, just do it.
****
Based on her own real-life experiment to stop enabling her kids to live in a self-centered, serve-me world, Kay Wills Wyma has crafted a witty, easy-to-read book called Cleaning House.
Cleaning House is structured into twelve main chapters, each one focusing on a single life skill that Wyma wants her children to hone before entering adulthood. The chapters address anything from simple organizational skills to practicing hospitality and planning a party. Each chapter engages the reader with true dialogue, the constant ups and downs of fighting entitlement, and the many small victories that unfold throughout the year-long experiment.
I felt all throughout the book like I WAS Kay. She's just so...normal. She's a mom who loves her kids and wants to teach them how to become thriving adults. But she's way funnier than I am. You win some you lose some.
This issue of entitlement is a big deal and I was just refreshed to see someone doing something about it in her own sphere of influence. (And also acknowledging her own fault.) I see this entitlement all the time - parents who rush to hover and "save" their kids rather than allowing them to problem solve and learn responsibility. And so the kids are left with only a sense of "I can't do it" and a thousand other excuses that we unintentionally reinforce daily. And then all of us adults sit back shaking our heads at this lazy generation as if we had nothing to do with it... not that it's COMPLETELY our fault, but our enabling tendencies and desire for convenience sure don't help.
Reading this book helped me to think critically and practically about ways to teach my own son (before it's too late) how to be responsible, mind his manners, and serve others. It also made me realize that my own convenience is NOT a good excuse not to teach my kid even the simplest things - like how to navigate a grocery store. (It's just easier to go alone, right?)
Overall, I highly recommend this book for all parents out there who are probably doing too much, picking up wet towels off bathroom floors, making beds, folding laundry, calling your adult child's landlord to get them housing at their graduate school - all because "if I don't do it, who will?" Kick your feet up, and let your kids do the wash while you read this light-hearted but very needed book!
Comments
Post a Comment