It’s time for my monthly book review! I actually started (and finished) these books in December. January has been a busy month getting back into the swing of things at work. I read two books over the past two months…

The first was Hunt, Gather, Parent.

When Dr. Michaeleen Doucleff becomes a mother, she examines the studies behind modern parenting guidance and finds the evidence frustratingly limited and the conclusions often ineffective. Curious to learn about more effective parenting approaches, she visits a Maya village in the Yucatán Peninsula. There she encounters moms and dads who parent in a totally different way than we do – and raise extraordinarily kind, generous, and helpful children without yelling, nagging, or issuing timeouts. What else, Doucleff wonders, are Western parents missing out on?

In Hunt, Gather, Parent, Doucleff sets out with her three-year-old daughter in tow to learn and practice parenting strategies from families in three of the world’s most venerable communities: Maya families in Mexico, Inuit families above the Arctic Circle, and Hadzabe families in Tanzania. She sees that these cultures don’t have the same problems with children that Western parents do. Most strikingly, parents build a relationship with young children that is vastly different from the one many Western parents develop – it’s built on cooperation instead of control, trust instead of fear, and personalized needs instead of standardized development milestones.

Maya parents are masters at raising cooperative children. Without resorting to bribes, threats, or chore charts, Maya parents rear loyal helpers by including kids in household tasks from the time they can walk. Inuit parents have developed a remarkably effective approach for teaching children emotional intelligence. When kids cry, hit, or act out, Inuit parents respond with a calm, gentle demeanor that teaches children how to settle themselves down and think before acting. Hadzabe parents are world experts on raising confident, self-driven kids with a simple tool that protects children from stress and anxiety, so common now among American kids.

Not only does Doucleff live with families and observe their techniques firsthand, she also applies them with her own daughter, with striking results. She learns to discipline without yelling. She talks to psychologists, neuroscientists, anthropologists, and sociologists and explains how these strategies can impact children’s mental health and development. Filled with practical takeaways that parents can implement immediately, Hunt, Gather, Parent helps us rethink the ways we relate to our children, and reveals a universal parenting paradigm adapted for American families.

(Book summaries from Amazon)

Oh man. I’m not even sure what to say. I found parts of this book interesting and parts incredibly dull and well, obvious, and quite frankly, not things that I would eve implement in our house. For example, the suggestion is made to get rid of all kids’ toys, as they aren’t needed in many cultures. That children just play with what is available. While I imagine that’s true, I won’t be ridding our house of toys. I’ll keep to my editing often of toys.

There’s also a suggestion that children should be included in household upkeep, and encouraged to help alongside adults. That’s been our parenting philosophy so far with Harrison and Jonathan. That as much as it’s easier to just clean, cook, fix things ourselves without the help of little hands, that actually letting them participate and take ownership of it increases their skills and willingness to help often in the future.

Overall, like most parenting books, I liked some of it. Didn’t like other bits. But didn’t find the book overall to be a profound parenting mindset shift for myself.

The other book I read this past month was Christmas in Peachtree Bluff.

When the Murphy women are in trouble, they always know they can turn to their mother, Ansley. So when eldest daughter Caroline and her husband announce they are divorcing – and 15-year-old daughter Vivi acts out in response – Caroline, at her wits end, can’t think of anything to do besides leave her with Ansley in Peachtree Bluff for the holidays. After all, how much trouble can one teenager get into on a tiny island?

Quite a lot, as it turns out.

As the “storm of the century” heads toward Peachtree Bluff, Ansley and her husband, Jack, with Vivi in tow, are grateful they’re planning to leave for the trip of a lifetime. But Vivi’s recklessness forces the trio to shelter in place during the worst hurricane Peachtree has ever seen. With no power, no provisions, and the water rising, the circumstances become dire very quickly…and the Murphy sisters soon realize it’s up to them to conduct a rescue mission. With the bridges closed and no way to access Peachtree Bluff by land or air, they set sail on Caroline’s boat, The Starlite Sisters, determined to rebuild their beloved town – and their family.

This was the fourth, and I believe final, book in the Peachtree Bluff series. I spaced them out throughout the year so I could read this one around Christmas. And it didn’t disappoint. It was sweet, light, and just the overall perfect Christmas book for the season.