Love, Magic, and Mudpies
Seigel, Bernie. 2006. Love, Magic, and Mudpies: Raising Your Kids to Feel Loved, Be Kind, and Make a Difference. Rodale Books.
Early on in this book, Seigel sets a straightforward goal: helping parents to survive the parenting process, all while feeling that it is a blessing to be a parent. He makes it clear, too, that he believes that anyone can be a great parent. It just takes effort, and knowing what to do. For example, he writes:
“…love is what every child needs.”
He also points out that faith, hope, and love are the requirements of life. To give all of this, Seigel offers simple advice: Just be there for your kids. Seigel and his wife, though, know how difficult even that can be at times. And they really know, because they had five kids in seven years.
The best part of this book is that Seigel sets out general problems or challenges and then gives an example of how he dealt with such an issue. My favorite is when he suggests how to handle unwanted parenting advice from others. Say that your father-in-law tells you how to parent too often. Seigel recommends listening and then saying:
Thank you very much. Perhaps you’d like the kids to come and stay with you.
If the unwanted advice continues, Seigel suggests continuing to use his reply. In his experience, the unwanted advice eventually stops.
That’s just one of dozens of examples from Seigel that might teach you something, might make you laugh, or might trigger parenting ideas of your own.