Lose the Cape! (A Book Review)
I had the pleasure of participating in a book review. Now the funny thing is, this book is all about parenting. And I am not a mother. Not biologically, anyway. I have been assisting in raising my godson since he was six months old, so I thought why not give the book a try. I must say that I was very pleased, informed and entertained.
Lose the Cape! Never Will I Ever (and then I had Kids!) is a great compilation by editors Alexa Bigwarfe and Kerry Rivera. Alexa is a freelance writer and mother of three who blogs at No Holding Back. And Kerry is a full-time working mom of three who blogs at Bread Winning Mama.
Most of us had grandiose ideas of what we would be like as parents; what we would allow our children to do and all those things we would never allow our children to do. We may have sworn we would never let our child watch more than 30 minutes of television, or sleep in our bed, or eat chicken nuggets or God forbid, cheese from a can (gasp!). Yet, the moment those little bundles of joy entered our lives, reality took over. Soon enough, we realized that before children, we knew nothing about being parents.
From breastfeeding to co-sleeping, pledging to feed our children all natural, home cooked meals and so forth, there often comes a point in time where surviving parenthood supersedes your views and your “nevers” slip away. Right?
Never Will I Ever is a collection of essays by mothers (and one brave dad!) who share their stories of how they evolved as parents and learned that when it comes to raising children, we can never say never.
I admit that I have looked at parents and their children and thought “never will I ever” several times. But when I look into my godson’s doe-like eyes, that thought soon leaves my mind. I find myself lying to him about food to get him to eat it. “Oh no, that’s not veggie meat. That’s real fish (or chicken).” Whatever it takes to get him to eat. Or I say that I will never let him see my cell phone again because he’s always downloading pricey games. But if it keeps him quiet so that I can take a nap, why not?!
This book helped me to understand that I am not alone, even as a godparent, when it comes to doing what you never thought you would with your children. Although I said I would never spoil a kid, I did go through that stage where I gave my godson what he wanted to keep the peace, deter any tantrums and to just make him happy. I did finally learn how to say no as he got older so that he could realize some things must be earned, not just given.
I think the moms and dad that contributed to this book were very brave. It requires admitting you are not a perfect parent, something we all strive to be. It means that they have come to the reality that we as parents won’t always get it right, but we will give it our best effort. I highly recommend reading Losing the Cape! Even more so because one of my fellow blogger buddies, April Grant, is a contributor. This book will provide much insight, as well as a dozen laughs.
The book is available for purchase right now! Get it on Amazon or purchase it in PAPERBACK on Selz.com. Also be sure to check out more on social media.
Blog: http://losethecape.com
Facebook: http://facebook.com/LosetheCape
Twitter: http://twitter.com/losethecape
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/losethecape
What did you say that you would never do as a parent?
