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After my daughter was born, I decided that I wanted to stay home and be her full-time mom even if it meant we had to go live in a box in an alley. Luckily, it didn't mean that and as the snow falls outside this morning, we're warm and snug in here with our two dogs rollicking about in the other room and a nice hot cup of coffee for me.
Freelance writing for extra cash was an easy jump for me, as writing is something I've been doing for a long, long time. Let's see here, in addition to a couple of college newspapers, I have written for The Water Garden Society of Kansas City, The Johnson County Business Times and Career Outlook. I also designed and wrote an ongoing newsletter for my husband's building and grounds maintenance company and dabble more than a little in QuarkXpress.
About a year ago, however, I got to work as a researcher and writer for a company that gathers all the latest in child psychology and neuroscience and packages it into informative presentations for teachers' inservice meetings. The books and seminars offered by this company are available all across the United States. I was really excited to have landed this great freelance opportunity, but in the long run, it turned out that what I learned there would have a much more personal than professional impact.
The research that I did was about children in poverty and my own papers hinged around questions like, "how do strong mentors impact the futures of impoverished kids?" or "what role does hope play in breaking the cycle of poverty?" Although my research focused on poverty, I was introduced to the science of positive psychology and the power of emotional intelligence and I took to reading up on this topic in my own time. Books by Martin Seligman, Edward Hallowell and Alfie Kohn have all had a huge influence on how I parent and I am grateful to have been introduced to so many great, new ideas.
Meanwhile, I also, of course, read to my daughter. We had board books, cloth books, picture books, story books, magazines -- we read everything we could get our hands on and the more we read, the more it seemed that all our books were about little yellow ducks. Ducks, ducks, ducks. Ducks on every shelf of the library. Ducks waddling through every bookstore. Ducks presiding over all the local garage sales. Here at home, we'd had enough ducks to last a lifetime, thank you. It seems, however, that if you'd rather not read about ducks, your next topic will be pandas, fish, pigs, cows, etc. Enough already! As my daughter grew older and wanted to latch onto more and more words and concepts, my frustration soared with my inability to put my hands on books that would help her grow.
In April, 2008, when my daughter was about two and a half, I started Claire's Booklist. The goal was simple -- to find books that will advance my daughter's emotional intelligence, general vocabulary, curiosity and love of reading. It was taking a bit of research to track down these titles and I decided to blog the experience so that others might be able to do the same. Quickly, the list grew out of control and had to be whittled down into something more along the lines of a nonfiction collection for secular, agnostic or atheist parents.
In September, 2008, I was thrilled to become a book reviewer at www.best-childrens-books.com and have reveled in this opportunity to expand into other subject areas. My main focus there has been books that teach emotional intelligence, and, being a huge believer in the power of oral storytelling, books that can be "re-told" during a long car ride or what have you. As a new writer for Suite 101, I look forward to adding yet another dimension to my ongoing book quest.
Most books are written by sincere and well-intended people and I really try to reflect that in my own policy about book reviews. When authors or illustrators fall short of their audience's expectations, however, more than a handful of book reviewers stand ready to rip their work to shreds. Personally, I think there's enough rudeness in the world without that, so, for the most part, I'm opting out. There are a few exceptions (found only on my blog) but if I don't like a book, I just don't review it at all. For my readers, I hope this means that you will find books that I genuinely believe you would enjoy.
My daughter, Claire, is three now and my decision to be her full-time mom has been both my proudest title and my biggest challenge ever. It has led me on a new personal journey and I thank you for taking these few moments to share in it. Happy reading to you and your kids.