This heartwarming memoir explores the complex and multifaceted life of the author's mother, Renza Bryant. Through her example, support, and guidance, Renza Bryant inspired and empowered others. Johnson describes her mother as a guiding light, a champion, and a woman who profoundly impacted her and everyone she met. Her mother’s leadership, humility, accomplishments, and deep commitment to her community are highlighted. Woven into the narrative as the author explores her mother's remarkable life is a journey through Jamaican culture, offering the reader a chance to learn about her country. Details
Barbara Mahany writes, “Mothering was my crash course in love. Love of the sort I call Divine. Love in the way we yearn to be loved: Without end. Without question. Without giving in to exhaustion. Love with a big and boundless heart. Love with eyes and ears—and soul—wide open. Love even when it’s not so easy.” In Motherprayer, Mahany generously shares personal love letters on the mysteries and gifts of mothering, interspersed with family recipes and gentle essays, all offering beautiful lessons in how to love, and how to love well. In her bracingly honest style, she captures the ephemeral moments of motherhood—the hard, the glorious, the laughter, and the tears—and invites readers to pay attention, cradle our loved ones in prayer, and see the sacred lessons in loving. These stirring meditations bring into sharp focus one essential question: How do we love breathtakingly?
The ultimate guide to unlocking your child's potential and nurturing their growth in today's fast-paced world Kelly Rippon, mother of Olympic medalist Adam Rippon, empowers parents with the essential tools and strategies to raise resilient, confident, and successful children. Drawing on her personal experiences as a parent, Rippon provides actionable insights that will transform your approach to parenting. With Parent Up, you will discover how to cultivate a supportive environment that fosters your child's development, unleashes their unique talents, and encourages them to reach new heights, including: Empowering Communication: Learn effective communication techniques to build strong parent-child bonds, promote healthy dialogue, and encourage open expression of thoughts and feelings. Growth Mindset: Discover how to foster a growth mindset in your child, helping them embrace challenges, persevere in the face of obstacles, and develop a lifelong love of learning. Resilience and Emotional Intelligence: Equip your child with the emotional tools they need to navigate life's ups and downs, build resilience, and develop empathy and self-awareness. Goal Setting and Motivation: Uncover strategies to help your child set meaningful goals, stay motivated, and develop a strong work ethic, preparing them for future success. Nurturing Individuality: Learn how to celebrate and cultivate your child's unique strengths and passions, empowering them to pursue their dreams and become their best selves. Building Strong Family Connections: Explore techniques to create a harmonious and loving family environment, strengthening bonds and promoting positive relationships between siblings and parents. Kelly Rippon's expertise, combined with the power of her insights and actionable advice, will guide you on your journey to becoming the best parent you can be. Foreword by Olympic medalist Adam Rippon. Praise for Parent Up: "Parent Up is exactly the book parents need in our rapidly changing world. It reminds today's teachers, parents, and caregivers that leadership requires empathy, and the better we understand others, the better we understand ourselves." —Michele Borba, EdD, author of Unselfie: Why Empathetic Kids Succeed in Our All-About-Me World "Parent Up gives parents the confidence to raise our children in a way that works for our families, and inspires resilience and self-sufficiency in our kids." —Lindsay Powers, author of You Can't F*ck Up Your Kids: A Judgment-Free Guide to Stress-Free Parenting "Kelly shares relatable personal experiences in Parent Up that show us sometimes the difficult path leads to the best parenting. Not always protecting our kids, but allowing them to own the consequences of their actions, helps them learn to be confident, empathetic, accountable, and ultimately empowered to live their best lives. It's no wonder her oldest son, Adam, achieved his Olympic dream and is a beloved sports figure." —Kristi Yamaguchi, Olympic champion and New York Times bestselling author "This book is a total joy! Kelly Rippon is a remarkable mother of six remarkable children whose achievements are only surpassed by their integrity and goodness of heart. Her book offers a wealth of advice for raising successful and compassionate children. Warm, witty, and wise, Kelly Rippon is a gift to all parents!" —Priscilla Gilman, author of The Anti- Romantic Child: A Story of Unexpected Joy
From a New York Times bestselling author and Caldecott-honor winning artist comes an exuberant illustrated story about playing dress up, having fun, and feeling free. The boy loves to be naked. He romps around his house naked and wild and free. Until he romps into his parents' closet and is inspired to get dressed. First he tries on his dad's clothes, but they don't fit well. Then he tries on his mom's clothes, and wow! The boy looks great. He looks through his mom's jewelry and makeup and tries that on, too. When he's discovered by his mother and father, the whole family (including the dog!) get in on the fun, and they all get dressed together. This charming and humorous story was inspired by bestselling and award-winning author Peter Brown's own childhood, and highlights nontraditional gender roles and self-expression.
NATIONAL BESTSELLER "A phenomenal, human story. . . . I could not put this book down." —CLARA HUGHES An instant national bestseller, this raw and affecting memoir is the story of a mother and daughter who beat the odds together. Decades before Perdita Felicien became a World Champion hurdler running the biggest race of her life at the 2004 Olympics, she carried more than a nation's hopes—she carried her mother Catherine's dreams. In 1974, Catherine is determined and tenacious, but she's also pregnant with her second child and just scraping by in St. Lucia. When she meets a wealthy white Canadian family vacationing on the island, she knows it's her chance. They ask her to come to Canada to be their nanny—and she accepts. This was the beginning of Catherine's new life: a life of opportunity, but also suffering. Within a few years, she would find herself pregnant a third time—this time in her new country with no family to support her, and this time, with Perdita. Together, in the years to come, mother and daughter would experience racism, domestic abuse, and even homelessness, but Catherine's will would always pull them through. As Perdita grew and began to discover her preternatural athletic gifts, she was edged onward by her mother's love, grit, and faith. Facing literal and figurative hurdles, she learned to leap and pick herself back up when she stumbled. This book is a daughter's memoir—a book about the power of a parent's love to transform their child's life.
Christine Carter may run on caffeine, chaos, and cuss words, but she wants nothing more than to become a well-rounded parent, wife, and professional. Like most young moms, she aspires to live a stress-free life. But when her world becomes unbalanced, and a separation thwarts her, Carter must look inside herself and address several issues.
A mother’s moving and honest memoir about the premature birth of her daughter—and the strength and grace that can be found in the midst of life's greatest challenges In her early thirties, Kasey Mathews had it all: a loving husband, a beautiful two-year-old son, and a second baby on the way. But what seemed a perfect life was shattered when she went into labor four months early, delivering her one-pound, eleven-ounce daughter, Andie. The first time Kasey was wheeled into the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), nothing prepared her for what she saw: a tiny, fragile baby in a tangle of tubes and wires. All at once, Kasey was confronted with a new and terrifying reality that would test the limits of love, family, and motherhood. In this riveting, honest, and often humorous memoir, Preemie chronicles the journey of one tiny baby’s tenacious struggle to hold on to life and the mother who ultimately grew with her. From hospital waiting rooms to the offices of alternative practitioners, from ski slopes to Symphony Hall, Kasey tries to make meaning of her daughter’s birth and eventually comes to learn that gifts come in all sizes and all forms, and sometimes... right on time.
Winner’s original Mudhouse Sabbath has sold 45,000 copies, been translated into three languages, and spawned a successful video study series. After her conversion from Orthodox Judaism to Christianity, Winner found that her life was indelibly marked by the rich traditions and spiritual practices of Judaism. She here presents eleven Jewish practices that can transform the way Christians view the world and God, including attentive eating, mourning, candle-lighting, and Sabbath-keeping. Since first publishing the book, Lauren has earned her MDiv and PhD, and become an Episcopal priest. Her thought has deepened and developed. This new Study Edition incorporates the complete original text plus primary texts from Jewish and Christian sources, and new material on each of the eleven topics. The result is a powerful work for Christians wanting to explore in depth and understand the Jewish origins of Christianity. “At a time when we are so aware of the differences between Judaism and Christianity, Lauren Winner’s book on what we can learn from each other is so refreshingly welcome.”—Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People
An advocate and son of same-gender parents recounts his famed address to the Iowa House of Representatives on civil unions, and describes his positive experiences of growing up in an alternative family in spite of prejudice.
Caring for an elderly parent can be extremely challenging. The role reversal involved is emotionally and intellectually demanding, and many caregivers find themselves unprepared to undertake such a difficult task. In Trading Places: Becoming My Mother's Mother, author Sandra Bullock Smith shares her personal experiences spending ten years caring for her ailing mother. This heartfelt look at the trials and tribulations of that decade offers powerful insight and encouragement for anyone entering into a similar period of life. Smith's touching stories share the heartbreaking, and sometimes comical, moments she experienced while providing assistance to her aging parent-and how they mirrored similar events from her own childhood. In a very real sense, the two women traded places. Smith found herself uttering phrases she heard all too often as a child, such as, "Don't give your food to the dog" and, "You've had enough sugar today." Smith began jotting down the things she said, and thus this charming book was born. Filled with respect, compassion, and love, this uplifting and amusing memoir is for anyone involved in elder care or who may face the role in the future.
