Samantha Munoz-author of the brand new parenting book “the Intentional Bookshelf”. She is an engineer who blogs at Addison Reads.
Sunit says that she is a connoisseur of parenting books and would never rave about this one if she didn’t love it.
She asks Sam why she wrote this book. Sam says dealt with a lot of overwhelm when she first became a mom. She was by herself raising her daughter in Japan away from family and friends and she didn’t know if she could do it. The idea of molding your child and having the responsibility of teaching them and growing them was too much. She realized that children’s books could help her parent. She realized they have important and valuable lessons to teach. They could help her teach core family values and other things beyond math and science. She decided to share with other parents. Sunit observes that Sam did not give a list of what books to buy but instead tells people what they need to take into consideration to create their personal bookshelf. Sunit parallels this to how she approaches her coaching of expecting moms. Sam says yes she purposely wanted to avoid that. Telling parents what they “should” do is doing the opposite of what she is trying to accomplish. It gives people anxiety when someone tells them what to do. You need to parent how YOU want to parent.
Sunit mentions that the book addresses all sorts of cool info about budgeting and book clubs and book boxes and that her own children’s bookshelf is NOT intentional. But it will be now! Sam says the main point of this book is to encourage parents to utilize books to help them parent and also in the book there is a worksheet that helps parents plan their bookshelf. Have goals for your bookshelf. Sit down and talk about it with your spouse.
Sunit agrees that you need to plan ahead with your partner on how you will parent and what kind of kids you will raise and this can help you guide your bookshelf.
What is a good place to start when it comes to books for your baby? Sam says board books are the best place to start for babies. New and expecting moms should start with board books.
Some of Sam’s favorites are by a company called Baby Lit. They have a series of books inspired by classic literature. That is a great place to start.
“Dear Zoo” by Rod Campbell
“Cheeky Monkey” –a story about honesty that comes with a little stuffy monkey. Great for incorporating values early on. Sunit reminds everyone that it’s never too early to start reading to the littles. Books are a great way to communicate with your child from Day 1.
Sunit asks Sam why she thinks parents should have “the intentional bookshelf”. Sam says even just having this book on her nightstand reminds her that she has a plan for her parenting and that she is incorporating what she wants as a parent into her child’s life. It makes her feel more at peace. Sunit and Sam talk about the fact there is so much pressure and stress to raise kids with the right values-parenting can be made easier with this book!
Sam gives her one piece of advice for new and expecting moms: Sam says-RELAX. Trust your instincts and what you know you want to be as a parent. Everyone has an opinion. Remember what YOU want to do and what your purpose is, and what you have in your mind and your spouse’s mind. Be clear on that, nothing else matters. Sam took too much advice and stressed about everything. And it hurt her, she wishes she hadn’t taken so much advice.
Sunit asks Sam to share something about her SELF that she has held onto outside of her role as a mom. Sam says that she loves to write and her blog really helped her get focused and clear on what she loves, and she has come full circle and been able to go back to being an engineer. Get clear on what you want. We CAN be amazing moms without having to let anything go. Hold onto some piece of you and embrace it. Sam says you feel like the perfect parent until someone reminds you that you’re not. Don’t compare just be laser focused on what YOUR goals are for parenting.
Sam blogs (and you can also find the book) at:
Not yet possible to walk into a bookstore and buy the book, but you can order thru her website or on Amazon as a paperback and also Kindle.