I am not one to make New Years Resolutions anymore. I did and I usually failed pretty quickly. If I’m not already working out why would I think I am going to all of the sudden find the motivation and energy to do so? If I want something bad enough, I’ll do it. I’m not going to wait for a new year to motivate me.
All that to say, this year I want to read more books. Ideally, one a week. Crazy, I know. I want to read through the stack of books I already own. Finish the books I haven’t yet. And there are plenty of those. This isn’t because it’s a new year, its piggy backing off of late fall. I was motoring through books. The more I finished, the more I wanted to read. I was reading about one a week and want to continue that through the new year. At some point I’ll review the ones I read in the fall.
The first book of 2020?
Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch
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I’ve started this one and put it down. Started it again and put it down again. I couldn’t really tell you why. I’m sure it had something to do with knowing I would have to make some changes around our house. You know those books that you pick up because you want change but put it down because you don’t actually want to make the changes? That seems to be the theme of a lot of the books I’ve chosen to read this year.
Maybe it was the antsiness of winter settling in. Or the excitment for all things Christmas. It seemed my kids were developing new attitudes and becoming more brave with their words. Let’s be honest, its probably the fact that they are preteens feeding off of one another. Regardless, I was sensing a need for change. A need to tighten things up around here. I thought this book might give me a few pointers.
While there was nothing groundbreaking, this book was a good reminder to have boundaries. It reminded me that it is good to say “No.” My kids can be dissapointed. Our family chooses to live against the current of society and it is going to be challenging at times for all of us, but it will be worth it.
I appreciated at the end of each chapter that Welch offers “practical, age-appropriate suggestions for grateful, countercultural living for you and your kids.”
Favorite quotes:
“Obedience is not a suggestion; it’s a requirement with a consequence. It’s hard but it’s necessary. We discipline because we love.”
“I refuse to rob my kids of the privilege of hard work [and its monetary rewards] because that’s when the joy of giving is revealed.”
“Sometimes the best way to help our kids is to not help them. They often become resourceful and responsible when we simply let them.”
“Society has shifted truth by bombarding us with an idea until it’s normalized.”
