This important book was on display at my local library. I’m so glad I picked it up! I love the ideas. This book isn’t like other parenting books. This is a collection of essays by disabled parents that reveals they are masters at problem solving and have found creative ways to get around barriers. Their openness helped me realize how daunting it can be for some to choose to become parents.

For me, forsythia and daffodils are friendly reminders of the abundance of springtime. Yellow feels so happy and cheerful. I love spring in general, but yellow specifically, as a herald of growth and vitality. Imagine my disappointment when I learned last week that my child can’t see yellow. At all. Never in her life has she seen yellow. She is a teenager and we are only just now noticing this yellow deficiency!

For five years now, we’ve been reading daily as a family in the Spanish language. Reading in Spanish is predictable; there are few exceptions. Though our accents aren’t perfect, at this point, we are all able to sound out any Spanish word. Learning to read Spanish is a huge help to all of us, but especially to my children with dyslexia. They cannot guess at the Spanish word, instead, they need to slow down and read each syllable.

While introducing Hyperbolic Sine to my son last week, he asked a question that surprised me. He wanted to know more of the proof, more of the details behind the process. Until his question, I hadn’t realized that the Hyperbolic Trigonometric Functions connect imaginary numbers with logarithms. Mind blown! Perhaps one of my math teachers already explained this to me. But, it didn’t really sink in until my son and I were investigating together.

Feeling wounded by her fourteen-year-olds Tyrannosaurus-like outburst, my friend slumped across the park bench. She looked defeated as she told me about her son’s disappointment with their recent family celebration which she had cut short in expectation of the demands of his 4:30 am workouts. “You never let me do anything fun!” he had yelled when she encouraged him to head to bed early, reminding him of the agreement they had previously made.

Parenting coach and Washington Post columnist Meghan Leahy asked herself, “Could I write a book that provides some hope, while also challenging you to be more compassionate, more loving, and more open to your child and yourself?” This 2020 book is the result. She wants parents to trust their own gut. She explains, “I see my role as a parenting coach as culling the immense wisdom, experience, and knowledge of the previous generations of parents, combining it with today’s science and real-world parenting needs, and helping each and every parent find their intuitive voice.

My child is learning to ice skate. I’m proud of her. No one else in our family is big into ice skating. So it is unfamiliar to me. Since she is high school age, she has paid for and attended her lessons alone. I haven’t heard the instructions from her teachers. I haven’t spent much time with her on the rink. But, when she gets back home, she consistently says, “That was so fun!

When parenting feels hard, parents can become desperate for a solution. The urgent need for improvement leads us to search for quick-fix solutions. That must’ve been what Dr. Kevin Leman had in mind when he wrote his 2015 book, “Have a Happy Family by Friday.” The title implies that the changes will be quickly implemented with immediate results. But, of course we now that our families can’t be changed in just a few days.

Rules can be scary. Rule enforcers can be scary. Breaking rules can have big consequences. Compassion can motivate you to overcome obstacles. These mindsets are eloquently described by Tracy Kidder in his book, “Among Schoolchildren.” Mrs. Zajac seemed to have a frightening amount of energy. She strode across the room, her arms swinging high and her hands in small fists. Taking her stand in front of the green chalkboard, discussing the rules with her new class, she repeated sentences, and her lips held the shapes of certain words, such as “homework,” after she had said them.

When I follow-up my learning with an application of the learning, I am more likely to remember what I learned. I’ve found this works well for my children, too. After field trips, I like to pause and reinforce the learning. I especially like to do it creatively. When I found this book at the library, my kids and I were excited to use it to reinforce some of what we’ve learned at National Parks.