Parenting Books

Think about the best pregnancy or baby advice you ever received and most likely, someone else gave you 20 reasons it was clearly wrong. There are few jobs in life that solicit as much advice giving (either wanted or not) as parenthood. Every day brings about a new study that is sure to strike fear in new and experienced parents alike, and it is only those who can take a step back and laugh about it that come out of it all stress (and wrinkle) free.

Fans of Alice Bradley's Finslippy blog know that the tongue-in-cheek mother has a way with words. Her new book, Let's Panic About Babies!: How to Endure and Possibly Triumph Over the Adorable Tyrant who Will Ruin Your Body, Destroy Your Life, Liquefy Your Brain, ... Turn You into a Worthwhile Human Being ($8), is a sarcastic look at the phenomenon of fear-induction that parents are subjected to once they learn they're pregnant. Packed with truly laugh out loud anecdotes, quizzes, tables ("Why Is She Yelling at Me?"), and illustrations, the book is perfect for friends who just can't smile and walk away when asked if their pregnancy was planned. The perfect antidote for the holier-than-thou pregnancy and child-rearing guides that line overcrowded bookshelves, this book is just what mama needs to get through her sleepless nights.

Could there really only be seven life skills children need to become successful? From the day our lil ones are born, we are overwhelmed with advice from grandparents, friends, doctors, and the media. Oftentimes, the suggestions come with a list of products you need to buy to properly execute the program.

In her just released book, Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs ($10), Ellen Galinsky has not only identified the skills she believes are necessary for future success, but she outlines every day simple (and free!) things parents can do to develop the skills in their tots. According to Galinsky, we should teach our kids:

1. Focus and Self Control – children need this skill in order to achieve their goals especially in a world that is filled with distractions and information overload.
2. Perspective Taking – children who can figure out what others feel and think are less likely to get involved in conflicts.
3. Communicating – children need to be able to determine what they want to communicate and how. This is the skill teachers and employers feel is most lacking today.
4. Making Connections – children who can make unusual connections are more creative and can go beyond knowing information to using information well.
5. Critical Thinking – children need to be able to search for reliable knowledge to guide their beliefs, decisions, and actions.
6. Taking on Challenges – children who can take on challenges instead of avoiding or simply coping with them will do better in school and in life.
7. Self-Directed Engaged Learning – lifelong learners can change as the world changes in order to reach their full potential.

Galinsky argues that we must actively teach our offspring these skills, rather than rely on experience and society to do so. She suggests playing a simple game of Simon Says, but changing the rules so children have to do the opposite of what is asked to foster self control. Watching TV with your kids and then discussing the truths hidden in the ads will help build critical thinking skills.

Do you actively work with your kids to build life skills?

Hollywood isn't just having babies it's making movies about them too. Fresh off the heels of the announcement that What to Expect When You're Expecting will be made into a romantic comedy, comes news today that Dreamworks has plans to turn the upcoming Eat, Sleep, Poop: A Common Sense Guide to Your Baby's First Year into a movie too.

The soon-to-be-published book, written by Beverly Hills pediatrician Scott Cohen, is a humorous guide to raising a baby. Filled with stories about his posh clientele, the guide also includes anecdotes about Dr. Cohen's experiences raising his own children, which were often counter to what he learned in medical school.

They say it takes three to make a trend, but with the adaptation of these two parenting guides, it looks like baby fever has hit Tinseltown. Are you excited to head to the theater to catch these flicks?

Get ready for the onslaught of advice! As soon as a couple announce their impending arrival, friends and family begin showering them with advice and war stories of their own. Once the baby is born, there are entire sections of the library filled with books offering tips for taking care of your lil one. While many mamas turn to the so-called "experts," others rely on their natural parenting instincts.

Nick Clegg, the leader of Britain's Liberal Democrat party, recently got into a war of words with parenting guru Gina Ford. The father of three told an interviewer that he shunned the author's advice after his 10-month-old woke up four times the previous night, likening her tome to "following a sort of Ikea assembly . . . manual." He went on to say that he felt like had "subcontracted my parental instincts to this book."

Did you closely follow the routines set out by a parenting author or stick with your own instincts?

When a baby boy discovers his penis, parents like to joke that he takes after dad. Unlike past generations, lots of today's moms and pops received sex education and talk openly about the subject without blushing. Many families use the correct names for body parts and initiate conversations with their kids at an early age.

The American Academy of Pediatrics just released a report about children's sexual behaviors, listing those that are age appropriate. According to the guide, it is completely normal for children between two and six to do any of the following on an infrequent basis:

• Touch/masturbate genitals in public or private
• Look at or touching a peer's or new sibling's genitals
• Show genitals to peers
• Stand or sit too close to someone
• Try to see peers or adults naked

If you want to chat with your children about sex and their bodies, consider some of the following texts.

As parents we all make mistakes, but are you willing to learn from someone else's? Alec Baldwin thinks so. The famed actor who became infamous for an abrasive voicemail he left his daughter, Ireland, in 2007, is now considering penning a parenting book. In an interview with Playboy magazine, Baldwin discussed the notorious message, how he and the child repaired their relationship and why moms and dads need to take a long look at how they parent. Alec said:

It will be ironic for some people, but I’m going to write a parenting book. We’re at, not a crisis, but an awful place right now in terms of parenting. People are raising their children with the belief that we need to be friends with our children. Kids have too much power and call too many of the shots, telling their parents what they will and won’t do.

The actor is not the first adult to question current child rearing philosophies, but do you consider him an authority on the subject?