By Terri Schlichenmeyer, NDG Contributing Writer
For years now, your mother has perfected the Art of Unrequested Advice.
It started when she told you not to bring your favorite toy to Show & Tell because you’d lose it – and she was right. You spent your childhood hearing that you “need a sweater,” and she was usually right about that, too. And that boy you dated in high school? The one she hated?
We won’t go there…
Now you have children of your own and Mom’s still at it – but while the advice you get from her might go unrequested, it’s surely not unwelcome. So now that Mom is becoming Grandma, why not give Mom a little dose of her own medicine, in the form of two great new books?
If it’s been awhile since she’s been around little ones – or if you’re a new mother yourself – then How to Rock Your Baby by Erin Bried is a book you’ll want to tuck in the diaper bag, just so you are prepared.
This small but extremely helpful book starts out at the beginning, even before the baby’s born. How do you deal with morning sickness? What, exactly, should you eat “for two?” What do you do about mood swings (and how can people around you help?)? How do you know it’s really labor, and how do you make sure you actually get to the hospital in one piece?
Once the baby’s here, you will want to know how to calm a crier; take a temperature; make toys, baby food, and burp cloths; how to find Mom-Time and get some sleep. You will want to know how to do those other important things that mothers have been advising one another about for generations.
I liked How to Rock Your Baby because I think it’s great for new moms and for Grandmas who want a brush-up. Author Erin Bried also made this a nice reference book for babysitters and honorary aunties, too.
Every mother, no matter how old her babies are, knows that stuff happens – and it usually happens when you don’t have time to deal with it. Like most moms, you follow the Boy Scouts oath: always be prepared. Just in case, though, you will want to have Survival Mom by Lisa Bedford on hand.
Survival Mom is another one of those super-helpful books that you can use as reference, but this one is for fixing minor annoyances as well as dealing with those huge disasters you hope you never have.
Beginning with water (how basic can you get?) and moving to emergency shelter, food security and gardening, finances, medical crises, power outages, firearms, major disasters and worse. This book takes things step-by-step. It’s very easy to read, includes lots of sidebars and quick-takes, and author Lisa Bedford also includes stories from mothers who have lived through disasters of all kinds. In reading this book, I was astounded at what I didn’t know (gulp!)
If you are someone’s mother or if you need something to help your own Mommy prepare to be the world’s greatest grandmother, How to Rock Your Baby and Survival Mom would both make great gifts.
And that is good advice.
How to Rock Your Baby by Erin Bried (Hyperion, $14.99 274 pages) and Survival Mom by Lisa Bedford (HarperOne, $19.99 323 pages)
