madameblogalot

I got to do more reading in March than I had in a few months. During our vacation time I was able to do some reading on the plane. It seemed to me that most of my reading this month ended up with the material being both a hit and a miss!

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs-a low culture manifesto by Chuck Klosterman. I read this book on the recommendation of my sister. Some of Klosterman’s observations were interesting and insightful. A few were humorous. But for the most part, I had to make myself read this one. I almost could not get past about the second page with the language that he uses to express himself. But there are some interesting things to think about. I even think that though we come from opposite ends of the spectrum, we may have reached some of the same conclusions! This book was both a Hit and a Miss with me.

A friend of mine had sent me some articles that he thought I would enjoy reading. They are from the First Things website. Both are written by David Hart. The first, “Freedom and Decency”, was easier to read than the second, “Christ and Nothing”. They were both fairly long, the second pretty lengthy. They both also had some interesting things to say about where we are at in our culture, though from an entirely different perspective than Klosterman. They are a little difficult to read, but are worthwhile to those who are interested in those things. Again, these articles were both a Hit and a Miss for me.

While on the plane I also read the book She Said Yes by Misty Bernall. Her daughter Cassie was killed during the rampage at Columbine High School. I bought this book for my kids. My daughter read it and told me that I had to read it (which I had already intended to do.) This book was a Hit with me.

Then last night I finished the book Help! I Don’t Like My Child! by Barbara Woodall. This book is not what I was expecting. I thought it was a book about raising teens and how to get past the feelings we sometimes have towards them and how to overcome these feelings and how to better get through conflicts. This is not at all what this book is about. This book is about a mother and daughter in an abusive situation and the feelings living like this brought into their relationship. The mother turned to God to help overcome these things. However, I did not really enjoy her writing style and also found it to be less professional than Misty Bernall’s. In this book, Woodall shares how her teenage daughter also died. I did not realize this was the story I was reading. I am not sure if my expectations or the general writing style made this book a Miss for me.

In exactly one month, my daughter will turn 13 years old. She is almost celebrating today! She can hardly wait to hit the milestone! I on the other hand, am not too fond of the idea of having two full fledged teens living in my house! Of course, as a mommy, I can still remember when….

After my first pregnancy, I wasn’t so sure I wanted to go through that again. There are so many questions, so many doubts, so much confusion. And back then, I did not have the internet to run to when I wanted to find the answer to every nagging little thought that raced through my mind (but might not want to ask about aloud!)

After my son turned two, we began discussing the possibility of having another child. I did not want to be pregnant again (I had a rough time with the first pregnancy.) My dad offered one little piece of advice to us. With my husband and I both being “first born children” and our son obviously being a “first born” (only at the time), Dad said “You three will kill each other! You need another one for some balance!” He said it somewhat in jest, but I have to admit there was some insight to that. So I gave my husband a four month window. After that, I did not want to try to become pregnant again.

I guess God has plans for this little girl (young lady) as I got pregnant right away (we followed the advice from my Anatomy and Physiology college textbook!) She does indeed bring some balance to the family.

I know that if I were getting pregnant in this current time, I would be using websites to answer my questions, fears and doubts. I would be researching every little detail to keep up to date on my baby’s development. Then I would not have to search through textbooks or wait for monthly publications to see what they had to say about certain issues. I could just click away to find what I was needing at any particular time. And now as my daughter hits her teen years, I am turning to the internet to find out what other parents are doing with those precious little grown up toddlers!