The Wednesday Letters

How many of us have actually sat down and wrote someone or ourselves a letter?

When I served a mission for my Church in Germany, I would write my family weekly emails and occasionally hand written letters. I also wrote letters to my Grandpa while serving a mission. My Grandpa had already passed away, but I found comfort writing him too. These letters are my journal. I have always been a terrible journal writer/keeper. But, something about a letter made it so much easier to write about what is going on, my feelings, thoughts, circumstances, etc. I read The Wednesday Letters by Jason F. Wright this month. After reading this book, I decided I want to go back to writing letters as a form of journal keeping because (to no surprise) I am still bad at keeping a journal. I have not decided to whom these letters will be written to--maybe me, my kids, or husband.

The book did not have me hooked until close to half way through. Laurel and Jack were an older married couple who owned a small Bed & Breakfast. They had three children who where grown up  and facing challenges of their own. When Jack and Laurel passed away, their children discovered a whole stash of letters. They discovered Jack had written Laurel every single Wednesday since they got married. It was Jacks way of keeping a journal too. These letters fascinated their kids, and some secrets about their parent's lives were inside those letters. Secrets that would affect their children.
 The story takes place the week leading up to their funeral and during.

It was when those secrets were discovered I really got into the book. Some parts of the story even had me in tears. I recommend this book to everyone who loves a good story about love, trust, commitment, and reflection. I would most likely read this story again one day.

Jason F. Wright is also the author of the book Christmas Jars. I met Wright when I was in college. He came to the University to speak at the English Professional Writing Conference. During his visit, my Creative Writing professor had him come speak to our class personally. He writes very uplifting and inspiring stories that leave you with a new perspective or a feeling of wanting to be a little better.

Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems

I figured that if the quote I use on my blog says 'Good Books' then I need to write about such books. I have a goal this year to read (at least) one book a month. Sometimes that is all my mommy time can achieve. This last month I read the book Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber, M.D.

I have heard of the Ferber Method to sleep training when Johnathan was a baby. I read and applied his method to sleep train Johnathan from the book Baby 411 (another great book to have on hand). My nerves were getting the best of me when the thought of having to eventually put Colette into the same room as Johnathan. Johnathan was a great sleeper, but we wanted to try to even improve his bedtime and sleep even more so. Not to mention, we wanted to get Colette officially sleep trained well, so she is not so much of a disturbance to Johnathan. .

Once I started to read Dr. Ferber's book, I realized much more I can implement. Johnathan was in a stage of wanting to be done with naps, but we knew based on his moods, he was not done. Some of the things in the book we applied and now Johnathan is back to taking naps most days.

The book covers everything from bedtime routines, sleep training, sleep associations, naps to sleep disorders, nightmares, night terrors (and that parent's often use this term wrong), sleep walking, sleep apnea, etc. If you have any question about your child's sleep, any worries, or just wanting to tweak and improve it some, this book is for you! He also addresses you personally on your situation. So if you are a co-sleeping family, he addresses your needs so you can continue that sleeping arrangement if you so wish. He also helps you understand sleep schedules and rhythms, so it helps you realize that your child is not just waking up early or having a hard time settling down for sleep. I did read the entire book except for a few areas I skipped over. I skipped anything about co sleeping because we don't co sleep. I also skipped reading about the sleep disorders. I found this book to be a fascinating read and a great understanding on even my own sleep.

I truly recommend this book for every parent. He addresses baby through teenagers. Even if your child does not have a problem now, read this book. It has so much good information in it that can help prepare you, and also be a great reference guide--if you child does eventually have a problem.