Mama Reads Monday – July 21st

Interesting & Encouraging Articles for the Week!

I’m always coming across interesting and inspiring reads that I want to share with all of you.  So I thought it was time to start; each Monday!  Here are my favorite reads – to bring you some encouragement and inspiration – for your week ahead.  (And if you have any interest or inspiring articles from your blog to share – scroll on down and add them to the link party below!)

This Week’s Favorite Mama Reads:

• 4 Awesome Lessons to Learn from The LEGO Movie – “What I really love about The Lego Movie is that — in addition to being funny — the message it brings is balanced. It teaches that following the rules can be a good thing, but that you need creativity and teamwork to really thrive.”
• Help Kids Calm Down – Really great ideas, and perfect reasoning, too: “I don’t want her to think it is completely wrong to feel angry … there are so many things in the world it is reasonable and right and important to feel angry about.  The lesson she needs … cripes the lesson I still need! … is how to handle that anger so that it doesn’t become self destructive.”
• “Leave No Trace” Can Wait – “I’ve read the research. I know that kids who are micromanaged and over-regulated outdoors often grow up to be ambivalent towards nature. In contrast, adult environmentalists or the folks we think of as ‘outdoorsy’ were given freedom as children to wander off-trail, poke at weird plants, climb trees, turn sticks into wands or weapons, and pick flowers for mama. Which one do I want my kids to become?”
• 3 Changes I am Making to Stop Yelling Today – A great plan. I especially love the idea of family meetings: “Unanimously, everyone agreed that our family meetings are super successful and make everyone feel better about what is happening.”
• 7 Reasons Why Being a Stay at Home Mom is NOT Rewarding – Make sure to read this one carefully, Mamas: “… And then I realized how blessed I am to raise my children. How I would never want anyone else to have to put up with their crazy days when they lose their minds. And I’m so blessed to have the stories to tell them from the mundane to the extraordinary. I am so blessed because I have learned so much as a single car family and being a stay at home mom has forced my creativity. It forced my complacency. It forced my love of family.”
• When You Can’t Seem to Find Your Joy… – “Sometimes being stripped down allows us to understand gratitude with a new depth and purity. In every lousy situation we have a choice, an opportunity to be thankful. An opportunity to choose joy.”

Have Some Mama Reads to Share?

What have you been reading lately?  What are your favorite books or blogs to read?  I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!

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