Fave 5 Books/Authors for Mom

02/28/2019

Hey, all! My name is Kristin Smysniuk and I am over the moon to be part of the Mommy Blogger community. I am a mom to three beautiful boys who work to teach me lessons and keep me humble each and every day. Bennett is 9, Sawyer is 6 and Elliot is 4! I have been married to my husband, Tynan, for 11 years and am a fifth grade teacher with Saskatoon Public Schools.

I’m pretty sure many of you out there can relate to the fact that our To Be Read piles are often much larger than our Have Actually Read piles.  I’ve got stacks and stacks of books that I want to read and, with three young children, a very limited amount of time to actually read them. Since it is so hard to carve out the time to read, I want to know that the book I’m sitting down to dig in to is going to be worth it.  As such, I rely on others to recommend books for me.  Since it has been such an awesome thing for me, I would love to recommend a handful to you!

1. Present Over Perfect

If you haven’t heard of Shauna Niequist, LOOK HER UP! I stumbled upon this book by complete accident when a friend of a friend posted something about it on Facebook.  I found it on sale on Amazon and decided to give it a go.  WOWZERS! Game changer.  She has an amazing way of speaking “real life”.  She gets it – the struggles, the triumphs, the hardships and the successes that come with being a wife, mother and woman.  She reminds us that present matters more than perfection and she shares the journey of how she tends to herself and her family daily to find a beautiful place of peace and she does it in a way that shows us we can do it too! This book will have you exhaling a deep, powerful breath and setting sail to a new way forward!

2. Unplug: A Simple Guide to Meditation (for Busy Soul Skeptics and Modern Soul Seekers)
   First of all can I get a shout out to all the busy moms out there who want nothing more than to carve out time for themselves but simple cant find a spare minute? I hear you! I see you! I am you! I have always been intrigued by meditation. I have heard all the amazing things about it but always found it so complicated, confusing and, if I’m being honest, too “Ohm with Buddha on the Beach” for my life style. Enter Suze Yalof Schwartz to save the say and smash all the stereotypes I had about meditation.  In this book you are going to get a no nonsense guide to meditation.  It is short, sweet and to the point and it takes meditation and makes it approachable by busy moms like me! She breaks it down in layman’s terms and shows the readers that meditation is as individualized as we are and that we can do it anywhere and in a way that makes sense to us.  It really is just about SELF.  Becoming better, finding peace and joy and carving out space to quiet the mind.  I have begun mediation in a way that I would’ve never expected to a few months ago all thanks to this book.  I have given up the misconceptions and focused on self-improvement, clarity and calm.  If you have ever wanted a simple how to on meditation – check this one out!!

3. Daring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the way We Life, Love, Parent and Lead.
   For me, engaging in reading is all about finding about a balance between reading for enjoyment and reading for self-improvement.  Daring Greatly is a perfect balance of both. Brene Brown has written, as I’m sure many of you can attest to, many brilliant books but, for me, none is as profound as Daring Greatly. While my favorite chapter is that on ‘Wholehearted Parenting’ (ahh! So good!) there isn’t a section of this book that you won’t find compelling and applicable to your life – personally and professionally.  She digs deep into vulnerability, scarcity and shame and helps us to see ourselves as we really are – powerful and worthy.  This book is earmarked, highlighted, and stained.  It has been read and reread and I hope it can be just as powerful for you as it has been for me.

4. The Next Person You Meet in Heaven

First of all, I’m going to lead by saying that Mitch Albom is my all-time favorite author.  His books are short, easy reads that impact your life with each page you turn.  There are lessons in each chapter and while I don’t know how he does it, you can find yourself in each character and place yourself in the middle of each story.  His books are all touching, moving and inspiring but none more so than The Next Person You Meet in Heaven (the sequel to The Five People You Meet in Heaven).  This book will have you in tears but in the best way possible.  It will move you, guide you and have you thinking about your life in a profound way.  If you can only pick up one book, pick up The Five People You Meet in Heaven.  Then when you can pick up another one, get the sequel The Next Person You Met in Heaven.  You won’t be disappointed.

5. 5 Love Languages of Children

Gary Chapman (author of 5 Love Languages) and Ross Campbell team up to bring a book that has worked to change my life as a parent.  In this easy to read book, you will learn how to effectively communicate love to your child using their dominant love language. As laid out in the book (don’t worry this isn’t a #spoiler alert), the 5 Love Languages are: Physical Touch, Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Gifts and Acts of Services.  As I heard Gary and Ross define and discuss each, I began to see my children in their words.  I quickly became in tuned to how each of my children give and receive love. It offered me clarity in situations that I often found myself confused and didn’t know why.  It helped me to make easy adjustments in my every day interactions with them to ensure that they were able to know they were loved by me.  The shifts were easy once I became conscious of them and it offered so many “ah ha” moments.  I highly recommend this book to any parent looking to develop deeper connections with their child(ren).  And … if you enjoy this one, I highly recommend picking up Gary Chapman’s 5 Love Languages.  It will impact your marriage in the same way! These two have a permanent place on my nightstand!