Parenting

Child(ish) Reads: The 5 Love Languages of Children

| Patti Webb

I picked this book because The 5 Love Languages have solidly made their way into popular culture. And while you can’t really find out your child’s Myers-Briggs type or Enneagram until much much later, their primary love language does start showing signs early on.

As a parent, I will do anything to understand my kids better. And with most parenting books, I take them with a grain of salt and I can generally pick out an odd pearl or two of wisdom to pass along for my review. For this book, the pearls came from the first 6 chapters, discussing the love languages themselves. Unfortunately, this back half of this book was a bit of a letdown. I rarely say this, but you’re probably fine just reading this review instead of reading the entire book.

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Do You Trust Me?: Building Trust with Your Kid

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

Trust is a necessary foundation in establishing a bond and engaging with another being. It is a safe space between one another that is free from judgment or pain. But, trust doesn’t “just happen”; one’s actions and behaviors help people determine if someone is trustworthy.  As parents, we have a huge influence in how our children develop trust with themselves and others. This assurance is significant to their social, cognitive, and emotional development.

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What’s Your Parenting Patronus?

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

How parents raise their children has always been up for speculation and criticism since the post-WWII days of Dr. Spock. His book published in 1946, The Common Sense Book of Baby and Child Care, suggested that parents knew the best way to raise their kids. He even states in the introduction, “You know more than you think you do.” 

He advised that the more care, contact, and consideration a parent invested into their child, the better their child will turn out. How you did it, for the most part, was completely up to you.

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Have you watched Bluey?

| Mary Stoffel, MOT, OTR/L

I first heard about this show last year. A friend had asked if we had seen it and suggested that we (and our son) would enjoy it. I was 5 months pregnant at the time and our son was becoming bored with the usual suspects: Team Umizoomi, Paw Patrol, Blues Clues, Blaze, and Bubble Guppies. So why not give it a try?

The world of kid’s TV is crammed with numbers, letters, and constant drilling of basic academics. Bluey brings none of that to the table. I was impressed to see that each 7-minute episode is jammed packed with humor, imagination, and lessons in parenting. Yes, parenting.

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Whole-Brain and No-Drama Podcast Playlist

| Patti Webb

As we close out The Whole-Brain Approach, we wanted to give you some recent podcast episodes with authors Dan Siegel and Tina Payne Bryson. You didn’t think we just did books, did you?

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