Book Review: Raising the Challenging Child by Karen Doyle Buckwalter, Debbie Reed, Wendy Lyons Sunshine

Rating: 📚📚📚📚📚

Raising the Challenging Child: How to Minimize Meltdowns, Reduce Conflict, and Increase Cooperation by Karen Doyle Buckwalter, Debbie Reed, Wendy Lyons Sunshine

“The best way to teach the children a habit is to adopt it ourselves.” — Abhijit Naskar, The Gospel of Technology

My daughter, who is now six years old, has been going through behavioral issues since head-start. When she got to pre-K, she got kicked out after six months. Last school year, she got suspended from school, and by the end of that school year, she got kicked out of her daycare for good. She is brilliant, and she is a sweet kid but has behavioral issues, attention-seeking.

I got to thinking about how I could break her out of her bad habits when I can't even cut my own. I have a troubled past and childhood that has left me a little angry (a lot ). I have a terrible temper ( which has improved, in my opinion ) and slight anger issues. I don't always make the best decisions when I am a little rattled. I have never shown it towards my kids ( I don't want them to experience what I did), which led me to be a little more than lenient in my discipline. However, they have seen me, and mom got at it, seen me get upset with others, and handle situations in an unfitting way. I take full responsibility for how my kids deal with certain circumstances because even though I try and teach them the correct way, most kids go by what they see.

 That is why I was happy when I received this book in the mail. Raising the Challenging Child is excellent for parents who lack the knowledge on how to properly communicate with their child or the best way to get through to them. All lessons stem from real situations and alternatives on how to handle it better next time. The authors offer tips throughout the book. Here are some of my favorites tips:

• Find ways to give your child more simple choices (red or blue, now or after breakfast) throughout the day. Choices=deposits. (pg. 21)

• Avoid questions that can be answered with a no. (pg. 64)

• Don't flood your child with consequences.

• Help your child feel valued. Emotional safety is just as important as physical safety. (pg. 82)

Raising the Challenging child has helped me with communicating with my kids better and getting through to my sweet little trouble maker. I highly recommend this book.

Book Review: Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin

“I don’t think my parents understood their desires when they decided to have another child. They thought they wanted to raise another kid.  Really, they wanted to raise another Alison.” 

Alison Thomas 18, the star of the novel. The all-around, All-American daughter. Claire Thomas 7, shy, odd, and the younger sister. Some would say the sisters seemed close and that may be true, to some extent. In reality, Claire despised Alison as much as she adored her; even in her adolescent years to come long after Alison's passing.

Saint X. Saint X is an island the Thomas family inhabits for winter break. A family vacation soon turns into a family tragedy. Alison, 18, goes missing and found dead a while later. It’s Alison’s death where the story really begins. 

As the tragedy sinks in and the family returns home to New York, they come to realize they can no longer stay there. They eventually pack up and move to California and there Claire begins her new life and her new role as Emily (Claire Emily Thomas).


Claire spends her life trying to find herself (it seems) and run from the life she once knew; or the life she thinks her parents wanted for her sister. She moves back to New York.

She lives in questionable places all throughout her twenties in New York. Even though she can afford the best of the best through her parents, she lives in "lower class" areas. She runs into one of the boys from the island, Clive, and this sparks back up her hunt for the truth. 

“Our hunger for stories leads us to mistake a distracted spouse for an unfaithful spouse, an earthquake for divine punishment. A death for a murder. Aren’t they both right? Stories lead us to the truth and they lead us astray, and how are we to know the difference?”

When we dive back into the past and hunt for the answers we think we want, what are we really discovering?

Alison was a beautiful, spoiled, straight A’d,  privileged teenager looking for a thrill. She loved her life and the luxuries that came with it, but she wanted to experience the island life and culture. She wanted to be a part of something that money and privilege can’t buy. She ended up looking for a thrill that became her last. 

Claire has always adored, but resented her carefree, reckless, and “perfect” sister. With the eleven year age difference, she had big shoes to fill. It’s hard enough to meet the expectation of a living individual, but even harder when that person has been dead for quite some time. 


When Claire runs into Clive, randomly one night, in New York; it re-sparks her obsession with finding out what really happened that night on Saint X, the night her sister died. She doesn't find out the truth, at least not the whole truth. She still discovered something; her mother wasn't a pushover, her sister wasn't a saint, and she even discovered who she was. She discovered that something a better laid to rest and remain rested. No need to re-dig up what's already buried.

I give this novel a 4 out of 5 stars. It was a good and entertaining read, but it lacked momentum for me. This was more slow-burn than the fast-paced I had hoped it to be. I still would recommend this book for you all to read.

Thank you Celadon Books for an advanced reader's copy for an honest review.

As many of you may know, I love books. Reading was always my first love, and it was a thing between my father and I. He would always take me to a bookstore and let me get as many books as my heart desired. Fun Fact: He introduced me to Harry Potter by buying me the Sorcerer’s Stone VHS thinking I would like it, I loved it. My point is he is the reason I love to read. As many of you may know, I love books. Reading was always my first love, and it was a thing between my father and I. He would always take me to a bookstore and let me get as many books as my heart desired. Fun Fact: He introduced me to Harry Potter by buying me the Sorcerer’s Stone VHS thinking I would like it, I loved it. My point is he is the reason I love to read.

I mostly enjoy books that will help me develop my career or master a hobby of mine. I love digital marketing and I love to write. I have three books along those lines that I will review on my blog within the next week or two. I love contemporary YA/NA, which brings me to this ARC I am about to introduce. I mostly enjoy books that will help me develop my career or master a hobby of mine. I love digital marketing and I love to write. I have three books along those lines that I will review on my blog within the next week or two. I love contemporary YA/NA, which brings me to this ARC I am about to introduce.

There is nothing on Earth I love more (other than my kids) than book mail. Book mail is the best mail you can receive. Lately I have been receiving ARCs in the form of e-books, which is great, but I am old school I love me physical copies. I got Maya Hughes’ “The Second We Met” book in the mail and I could not be more excited. I opened the package and squealed like a little kid, hell, I even smelled the pages. The pages smelled delightful in case you were wondering. There is nothing on Earth I love more (other than my kids) than book mail. Book mail is the best mail you can receive. Lately I have been receiving ARCs in the form of e-books, which is great, but I am old school I love me physical copies. I got Maya Hughes’ “The Second We Met” book in the mail and I could not be more excited. I opened the package and squealed like a little kid, hell, I even smelled the pages. The pages smelled delightful in case you were wondering.

This is book two in the Fulton University series, with "The Perfect First" being book one. I cannot wait to dive in and start reading this book, after I am done with my other three. Just know a review is coming soon.

Gorgeous isn’t he

Title: The Second We Met
Series: Fulton U #2
Author: Maya Hughes
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Cover Design: Najla Qamber Designs
Photo: Wander Aguiar
Release Date: October 17, 2019
 
BLURB

Dear Jerk Across the Street, sorry for accidentally walking in on you and catching an eyeful of your—equipment. And hard pass on the open invitation to join you in the shower “anytime”, A-hole. 

That’s the note I should’ve written. Instead, I sent a pleasant and apologetic version.
Had I known Phoenix “Nix” Russo would’ve been the neighbor from hell, I’d have told him right where he could shove my words.
Nix is the big man on campus with everyone lined up at his games to make sure he knows it. Sure, he’s got piercing green eyes, abs that don’t quit and a smile that could set fire to a set of panties from a hundred yards away, but he’s also the biggest pain in my ass.
 

 

Dear Pink-Haired Menace, learn how to take a joke and stop being such a kill-joy…

Elle Masterson called the cops on one of my parties—again. My sweet talking usually gets me out of trouble, but this time it got me into a nice pair of silver handcuffs. Now I’m on a reputation rehab tour with a stop at a spring break community service project.
Guess who’s my new boss?
Now we’re shoulder to shoulder, sweaty, tired and… she’s not anything like I expected. There might just be a heart under that hardass exterior. She’s invading my dreams and I can’t shake the feeling she’s the key to unlocking a piece of me that I’ve hidden away.
It’s only a matter of time until she finds out why I’m really here.
Maybe I can break through her walls and into her heart before that happens… one screw at a time

My ARC for Womentality: Thirteen Empowering Stories by Everyday Women Who Said Goodbye to Their Workplace and Hello to Their Lives by Erin Wildermuth

I don’t think you all understand how damn happy I was when I received this book in the mail, can you say ecstatic? I read about it online and had the chance of signing up and requesting an ARC for the book; and just as the fates would have it, I got it. Lately I have been getting a lot of ARCs in the mail, so hopefully I will have more content coming up soon.

This book isn’t a how-to-guide, or a this is what worked for me, so maybe it will work for you type of book. Each woman in this book has a different, yet similar experience about their journey to working independently from home. They express their concerns, the pros, and the cons. The one common denominator they all had was in the advice that they shared. The work will be hard, the results won’t come right away, but it’s all worth it in the end.

This book is a list of testimonials from a few women who have had success in leaving their 9-5s behind to pursue a bigger purpose. We all want to leave an impact on this world and we all want to make a name for ourselves. These women are mothers, daughters, friends, and leaders; who come from all walks of life, but with similar stories and passions. So far this book has been a fantastic read.

The only issue I had was the fact that the book isn’t completely organized. These women all come from different places in the world and have had different experiences. The only thing that truly connects them together is the fact that they all left work to work independently. The essays of these women felt rushed, to me.

While I loved reading each of their stories; I would have loved it more if it was one woman sharing her story. One woman reliving the experience all over again so we (the readers) can visualize and understand the transition between working for someone else and working for yourself.

The book is set to be released in October of this year and I received this copy for free in exchange for an honest review.