Lifegiving parents

I positively adore the Clarkson family. I loved Sarah’s books and I’ve loved all of the books I’ve read by Sally. I am forever hoping to find out Sally is speaking somewhere near me/somewhere I’m going to be. I was so excited when I was given the chance to review The Lifegiving Parent!

Sally’s books are generally geared towards mothers. Actually, Sarah’s were too. This one, however, is written with her husband (Clay Clarkson) and is written for mothers and fathers.

To be completely honest right off the bat: Ryan didn’t end up reading it. The writing style just wasn’t for him… but he did agree with the points made so what we ended up doing was discussing each night what I had read. I would take diligent notes, including direct quotes and scriptures where applicable, and then we’d discussed what we liked or didn’t (I think we basically liked everything, truthfully) and discuss how to apply that into our own family.

I ultimately loved The Lifegiving Parent and very much recommend it. I will point out two things as fair warning, but otherwise I’d say it’s very much worth your time!

1) The Clarksons are mega-idealistic. Majorly, majorly idealistic. I am too so not only does it not bother me, it actually comforts me to see that there are others out there who take so seriously the same aspects of parenting that I do. Ryan is not so idealistic (though probably more than quite a lot of men?) but he is very supportive of my idealism. Basically, he doesn’t spend his free time thinking about and planning weird idealistic family moments like I do, but once I say them out loud he says “I don’t want to do that; that’s too corny” and then a few minutes later, “Actually… yeah. I like that. Let’s do it.” So this book worked really great for me in that way. 

2) They are mega planners, as am I, and chapter two was all about family planning meetings. I told a friend that I was curious to see what she would think after she read it because I could definitely see that particular chapter being really off-putting for non-planners. So if you, like me, drool over calendar aisles and find the updating of your new planner even more exciting than Christmas? You’re golden. If not? Hang in there through chapter two!

Do you/have you read any Clarkson family books?

I received a free copy of this book through Tyndale House in exchange for my honest review.