January 2024 MBR The Parenting Shelf

The Parenting Shelf

Small Moments, Big Impact: The MicroStep Method for the Overwhelmed Parent
Mary Willcox Smith, CMLC
Independently Published
9798988693017, $19.99, PB, 209pp

https://www.amazon.com/MicroStep-Method-Overwhelmed-Parent-moments/dp/B0CK3ZX95G

Synopsis: Parents today seem to inhabit high-speed whirlwinds, where time is scarce and stress runs high. But what if there's a proven way to navigate the chaos, a way to strengthen connections with your children while supporting their personal growth -- all through the power of small, actionable steps?

With the publication of "Small Moments, Big Impact: The MicroStep Method for the Overwhelmed Parent", parenting coach Mary Willcox Smith guides you on a transformative journey, showing you how to chart a straight course through the commotion and, at the same time, how to rediscover the simple joys of parenting.

Imagine: it's long past your child's bedtime. Pleas for "one more story" or "some more water" seem endless. Your frustration looms large, and you are not inclined to indulge your child further. But in a pivotal moment, you stop to try a new approach that involves showing sincere interest and curiosity. And that brief pause, for a newly shared experience as you honor your child's perspective, transforms the bedtime battle into a bonding moment.

How can such a tiny change hold such transformative potential? This is the essence of the MicroStep Method, where seemingly small shifts can empower the overwhelmed parent and Mary Willcox Smith provides you with the know-how and actionable tools that can shift everyday parenting struggles into opportunities to create moments of meaningful connection -- while simultaneously increasing children's cooperation and fostering their self-efficacy.

Integrating 25 years of experience, the best of child development research, and neuroscience, "Small Moments, Big Impact: The MicroStep Method for the Overwhelmed Parent" fully equips parents with easy-to-implement and customizable scripts for connection and growth. Your alliance with your child will deepen as you learn to nurture your child's social-emotional strength, self-esteem, and resilience, while you continue on the profound journey of helping to make your child feel truly whole.

Critique: Exceptionally well written, organized and presented for the benefit and accessability for the non-specialist general reader, "Small Moments, Big Impact: The MicroStep Method for the Overwhelmed Parent" should be considered essential reading for parents wanting their children to achieve success as they grow from childhood into young adulthood in these undeniably stressful times for any family. Especially and unreservedly recommended for personal, professional, community, and college/university library Contemporary Parenting collections and supplemental curriculum studies lists, it should be noted that "Small Moments, Big Impact: The MicroStep Method for the Overwhelmed Parent" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle, $11.99).

Editorial Note: Mary Willcox Smith is a Parent Coach, Speaker, and Author. A mom to four daughters, Mary's passion for neuroscience, mindfulness, and child development inspired her book, Small Moments, Big Impact: The MicroStep Method for the Overwhelmed Parent. Mary holds an MBA from INSEAD Business School and is a Master Certified Life Coach and a Certified Positive Discipline Expert. She provides coaching to an exclusive roster of parents and frequently speaks with schools, corporations, and parent groups.

Doing It All
Whitney Casares, MD
Fair Winds Press
c/o Quarto Publishing Group USA
www.quartoknows.com
9780760386996, $19.99, PB, 224pp

https://www.amazon.com/Doing-All-Over-Functioning-Become-Person/dp/0760386994

Synopsis: With the publication of "Doing It All: Stop Over-Functioning and Become the Mom and Person You're Meant to Be", Dr. Whitney Casares (author, pediatrician, and mother of two girls), shares the step-by-step plan she developed as a modern working mom to help her stop over-functioning at work and home, stop blaming herself for everything that went wrong, and start living a balanced and intentional life.

Today's working moms are burned-out, overwhelmed, and just plain stuck. Caught amid the endless, conflicting demands of motherhood, work, household management, and a million-and-one everyday tasks, chores, and responsibilities, they truly are doing it all -- but getting nowhere. They think they're out of options -- but they are wrong!

Dr. Whitney tried to do it all for years, until one particularly bad week brought her to knees, and then, to a revelation: It wasn't her that was broken, it was her system. She needed a new system, a plan of action that would look squarely at all the common problems of working mom life (over-scheduling, inequitable partnerships, lack of boundaries, lack of support), recognize the social and cultural causes behind them, and give her the tools and structure she needed to tackle the chaos, find her work-life balance, and start living a life that worked for her.

In the pages of "Doing It All", she shares that system with you, a system that will help you prioritize what really matters and where everything (even laundry!) has its place. Work calls? Yep. Time with your kids? Absolutely. Time for yourself? A top priority.

Doing It All features Dr. Whitney's complete step-by-step plan to achieving your Centered Life, that is, a life centered on you, as well as over forty targeted exercises, prompts, and activities to help you to: Create a vision of your life that aligns with your values and goals and then break that vision into actionable priorities so you can start making it a reality; Implement systems to deal with the annoying-but-necessary "have-tos" in your life quickly and efficiently; Develop equity in your relationship with your parenting partner; Create and maintain boundaries around emotionally laden calls on your attention; Give your kids what they need to be healthy, happy, and successful - without giving away too much of yourself; Prioritize your own mental health and emotional well-being with intentional scheduling and rest -- And more!

Featuring powerful personal stories from real working moms, as well as quotes and interview excerpts from parenting experts, medical professionals, and mental health advocates, Doing It All meets working moms where they are, recognizes the personal and systemic challenges they face, and offers solutions that really work. It's time to stop merely "surviving" motherhood. Join Dr. Whitney and thousands of other working moms across the country and discover the tools, systems, and support you need to parent, work, and thrive in your daily life.

Critique: An effective, comprehensive, and thoroughly 'user friendly' combination of instructional guide and 'how-to' manual for stressed out moms, "Doing It All: Stop Over-Functioning and Become the Mom and Person You're Meant to Be" by pediatrician and mother-of-two. Dr. Whitney Casares must be considered essential reading for all mothers (and most especially to those new to motherhood) and a core acquisition for personal, professional, community, and college/university library collections on parenting. Impressively well written, organized and presented, it should be noted for personal reading lists that "Doing It All" is also readily available in a digital book format (Kindle, $9.99).

Editorial Note: Whitney Casares (www.modernmommydoc.com) is a practicing, board-certified pediatrician, author, speaker, podcaster, and full-time working mom, as well as the CEO and founder of Modern Mommy Doc and The Modern Mamas Club App. She is a spokesperson for the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), for whom she has authored two books, The New Baby Blueprint: Caring for You and Your Little One and The Working Mom Blueprint: Winning at Parenting Without Losing Yourself. Dr. Whitney practices pediatrics in Portland, Oregon. You can find her on Instagram @modernmommydoc

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