Positive and Inspiring Picture Books for Boys

As I stated in last week’s blog post featuring positive and inspiring picture books for girls, this world can be a difficult one for our kids to grow up in with their self-esteem and self-confidence intact. That’s why this post features positive and inspiring picture books for boys. It is my hope that these books help lift up the special boys in our lives, increasing their self-esteem, self-confidence and sense of self-worth.

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Positive and Inspiring Picture Books for Girls

Let’s face it… this world can be a difficult one for our kids to grow up in with their self-esteem and self-confidence intact! We are inundated with negative news stories. We are encouraged to be practical in our career choices. Some of the most popular video choices to watch on YouTube are of people failing. However, I believe our kids deserve more positive messages in their lives. This is why my blog post this week features positive and inspiring picture books for girls.

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Hilarious Chapter Books to Read to Your Children

Research indicates that reading to our children for just 15 minutes a day exposes them to one million written words or more. That’s a lot of words… many of which our children may not otherwise be exposed to in a year. Reading to our children provides cherished bonding time as well. Some children will sit and listen to books without issue. Others will require some hilarious and engaging content to do so. This is why I am sharing some of my favorite hilarious chapter books that will keep nearly every 5 to 12-year-old child engaged while being read to.

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You Are… More than ADHD

I am. Those are possibly the two most powerful words one can use. Why? Because what follows is what we define ourselves as. This may be why a huge pet peeve of mine is when people describe others as being ADHD. “He is ADHD.” “She is ADHD.” Uh… pardon? Yes, an individual may have a diagnosis of ADHD. I guarantee there is more to the person than this diagnosis. Every individual is more than ADHD! This is why it is important to understand what ADHD is as well as to have a few inspiring individuals to look up to who happen to have it.

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Defining Myself Beyond Being a Mom

Who are you? The question seems so simple, yet I have found it difficult to answer at times. Who am I? Of course, in defining myself, the common answers come to mind. I am a mother, a spouse, a teacher, a daughter, etc. Many of us have seen shirts worn by people claiming to be the world’s best hockey parent or insert any other sport or activity there. But who are we beyond this? How are we defining ourselves?

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Things Watching TV and Reading Should Have in Common

Even though watching TV appears to be mindless at times, it really isn’t. There are many skills that we seemingly automatically learn to use that make watching TV an enjoyable pastime. Many of these skills are necessary to also implement into our reading in order for it also to be enjoyable and fully comprehended.

What are these watching TV and reading skills I speak of? They are as follows:

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Fostering Global Citizenship in Our Children

I didn’t know much about global citizenship growing up. I grew up in a rural area in which pretty much everyone happened to be of the same race and celebrated the same cultural traditions.

As a child, I did not fly on a plane to go on family vacations with my parents and siblings. Since my childhood was also before the internet was a thing, I didn’t know much about other countries unless I heard about them on the news (usually in a negative light), read about them in an encyclopedia or learned about them in school. That was my extent of global citizenship knowledge. I didn’t see myself as being part of anything outside of the community I was growing up in.

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Bad Behavior Does Not Mean Bad Kids

Early on in my pregnancy with my fourth child, I was punched. I turned so I got it in my back instead of the gut that it was going for. Thankfully, everything was okay and it didn’t have a negative impact on my pregnancy. Here’s the thing, though. The 10-year-old that threw the punch truly had no idea that he was punching me. This boy was known for having bad behavior. He was having a moment of rage, ran out of the room he was in, and I was there. It was as if I was a wall or a pillow. Afterward, he had no recollection of it happening.

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Must-Have Grammar and Spell Checker Software

Anyone who writes can benefit from grammar and spell checker software. This is true whether writing is painful or is something that comes easily. In this post, I share my favorite grammar checking software tools. Each will work to support not only the polished writer but also those individuals with a writing disability.

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The Value of a Parent’s Self-Care

I haven’t been so great at self-care or making myself a priority for most of my adult life. In fact, up until the past year and a bit, I viewed people (especially parents) that regularly took time for themselves as selfish.

I grew up with hard work being valued… valued beyond health and happiness. Don’t feel well? Nothing that requires a day off! People need to work. No time to stop and take care of ourselves. Feeling miserable? Grin and bear it! There is work to do… there is always work to do!

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