Eat Nap Play: How to Get Even More out of Your Child's Day for Less by Robyn Spizman and Evelyn Sacks, 224 pages. Available in Paperback April 1st.
I don't usually read parenting books because I rarely find useful information (not because I have all the answers). Generally they contain repackaged common sense advice. And I don't trust authors who claim to have it all figured out. Since it has been awhile since I had a baby in the house, I thought I might need to brush up on my creative mommying skills and was curious to check out Eat, Nap, Play.
Written by moms, this is an organized guide for an inexpensive, kid-friendly lifestyle. It is meant to be an encouragement to mamas to be more spontaneous, saying yes when you can. Bonus points for skim-worthy chapters - you don't have to sit and read it cover to cover- with titles like: Fabulous Food and Kitchen Fun!, The Party Circuit, and Super School Savings. The format is well-ordered and covers a wide range of activities to include the entire family. The best part? Many of the suggestions are simple and doable. I think this would be most helpful for a first-time mom, but also for a someone looking for a few new ideas. And it would definitely be interesting to pass along to mom friends and see what interests them.
I will admit to cringing at a couple of the suggestions (going to the mall) but quickly moved on and found some useful tips. My only other caution would be (as with any book full of advice or pointers) to focus on finding things that work for your family and not get caught thinking you have to do it all. For one thing, it's impossible to make everything FUN all the time - and the point is to try to make things fun when you CAN. There is a helpful resource list at the back of the book with tons of great websites.
Thanks to TLC Book Tours for providing a copy of this book. I appreciate being included - there are several other stops on this blog tour, you can find them here.
The End.
