Customer Reviews
I Will Be Reading This Yearly!
Amanda Evans of Oregon, 11/29/2010
As I write this I my three little monkeys are noisily attempting to go to sleep in the other room. The fourth little monkey may only be the size of a raspberry, but from a cozy position in my womb he or she is making his or her presence felt (headache, queasiness, fatigue...). I have 60 nails on 60 fingers and toes to keep trimmed, not counting my own! There are toys in the Tupperware cupboard and Tupperware in the toy box. And yes, I probably could recite Green Eggs and Ham. I know what motherhood in the trenches looks like.
Loving the Little Years is not a book to make you feel good about how long it's been since you cleaned your bathroom. This book won't tell you to hire a babysitter so you can have a day off with your girlfriends and keep in touch with the real you. This book doesn't say that the answer to all your stress is to spend two hours with the Lord at four in the morning. There are no suggested schedules, no spanking formulas, no pity parties. This book is real.
With wisdom and humor, and in 20 short, punchy chapters, Rachel Jankovic reminds us mothers that we are sinners too. Sometimes when the attitudes are bad and everyone is crying the first person who needs to repent is Mommy. As mothers we pour everything we've got into "training them up in the way they should go" but we have to remember that our own journey to sanctification isn't over. God is using these mischievous little imps to make us more like Him.
When all they seem to do is make messes and all that seems to come out of their mouths is mostly unintelligible gibberish, we can tend to see our children as little bothers. But throughout this book Rachel encourages us to remember that they are little people, eternal souls, personalities in the making. She urges us to study them, know them, learn their needs, hopes, strengths and weaknesses. And she reminds us to see the individuals in the half-sized mob. The Jankovic family is fabulous at coming up with creative imagery and catch-phrases for helping their kids see their sin and to remind them to do better. From selfish dragons to Cranksters to picky chickens, Rachel has shared many of these helpful ideas.
When I bought this book I immediately took it home, put the baby down for her nap, turned on Baby Signing Time for the toddlers and read it cover to cover. Literally, I laughed and cried. I will be reading it again soon, chapter by chapter, taking notes and absorbing ideas. In fact, I will probably read it every year.
Amy Hayes of Milwaukie, OR, 11/22/2010
I am an avid follower of the Femina blog and so pre-ordered this title a few months ago. It arrived on my doorstep this afternoon and my daughter caught me reading snatches while waiting on the bread-timer for dinner. As I expected it was wonderful!
Pithy, precise, loving, practical and deep, it strikes right at the heart of many of the day to day encounters of the mother of little ones. While most mothers "in the trenches" do not feel they have time for parenting books, this gem is laid out in brief yet valuable chapters which can be snatched at while feeding the baby, resting your feet for five minutes or even as the new "bathroom book" if you must!
Each chapter has a morsel of practical, put-it-in-action wisdom worthy of chewing on for a few days before taking a moment to absorb the next chapter. Mrs. Jancovich's easy, chat-over-coffee style allows a busy, tired mom to absorb the much-needed reminders and encouragements contained within even if her life is in that stage of feeling too tired and full of toddler-talk to read and take-in anything serious. I thought this book was written in just the right fashion, length and topic, to suit the busy mom of little souls.
As a mom who's little souls are all grown up, I was able to devote an after-dinner hour to devour it in one gulp and have already ordered 7 more copies for people who will be receiving a copy for Christmas! Another treasure from the ever fruitful Wilson girls!