book review

Child(ish) Reads: How to Dungeon Master Parenting

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

I’ve written a ton about video gaming and how my husband is a huge gamer. This includes ongoing Dungeons & Dragons campaigns, roleplaying games, Magic the Gathering, and anything else that uses a D20. So I was super psyched to get How to Dungeon Master Parenting by Shelly Mazzanoble. Yet another super late review for NetGalley, but I wanted to save this one for October.

How to Dungeon Master Parenting: A Guidebook for Gamifying the Child Rearing Quest, Leveling Up Your Skills, and Raising Future Adventurers by Shelly Mazzanoble

The blurb: For years, millions of fans have looked to the beloved roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons for fun, friendship, and entertainment. And now parents and parents-to-be can use D&D to gain inspiration and how-to when it comes to their most challenging and rewarding role yet. Dungeon Masters are not just expert storytellers and arbiters of the rules, they’re compassionate, creative, quick-thinking leaders who embody the same traits that make a great parent.

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Child(ish) Reads: Raising A Socially Successful Child, Pt. II

| Patti Webb

When we say “socially successful”, we mean making friends. Yes, how our child conducts themselves in public spaces in a way that is socially acceptable is one thing. Manners and etiquette are explicitly taught.

However, making friends is not exactly easy for most. Confidence, self-esteem, temperament; these all factor into the process personally. But then there is the reciprocation, the two-way street. Does this person like me back?

In Raising a Socially Successful Child, Dr. Stephen Nowicki explains the Friendship process; the different stages of how we start and maintain relationships.

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Child(ish) Reads: Raising a Socially Successful Child

| Patti Webb

When I first saw this book, I was interested in the nonverbal communication aspect. Yes, there are lots of parenting books about helping your kids make friends and navigate social circles, but the nonverbal factors gave this book a bit of an OT edge.

Raising a Socially Successful Child: Teaching Kids the Nonverbal Language They Need to Communicate, Connect, and Thrive by Dr. Stephen Nowicki. 

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Child(ish) Reads: Raising Empowered Athletes

| Patti Webb

A little backstory for me. I was up in Virginia for work this past fall and was invited to come to my high school crew team’s afternoon practice. I was a crew coxswain for six years; starting in high school, through college and two years in Masters rowing. I’ve sat in on practices, but this was my first time a long while helping novice high school girls.

Crew is an amazing sport when it comes to culture, work ethic, and mental game. But the coach was quick to point out that he wasn’t seeing a lot of physical fitness and strength in this group of girls. While crew was fun and they enjoyed being on the water, they were still very much learning fundamentals and not speed. This is racing after all.

So how do you connect with a young person about being competitive? How do you motivate without turning into a zealous tiger parent? How young does this start?

Raising Empowered Athletes: A Youth Sports Parenting Guide for Raising Happy, Brave, and Resilient Kids by Kirsten Jones. Kirsten, a Hall of Fame DI volleyball player from The College of William and Mary, and fourteen-year NIKE executive, is now a motivational speaker, writer and Peak Performance Coach. Her clients include teen athletes (and their parents), where she helps them learn how to reach their goals and release their limitations. She co-hosts the #RaisingAthletes Podcast with Susie Walton on iTunes and Spotify.

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Child(ish) Reads: Class Mom

| Patti Webb

To close out the year, we picked a quick fiction book for Child(ish) Reads.  A nice little palate cleanser for the holidays.

Class Mom by Laurie Gelman is the first book in a series starring Jen Dixon, a SAHM mom in Kansas City. She’s been given the Class Mom position in her son’s Kindergarten class and we’re following her throughout the school year, one email at a time.

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