Of Note This Week

I'll start on the heavier side of things. 

I don't want you to think the only thing I read is the Wall Street Journal.  My husband has a subscription and I end up reading the Personal Journal section quite frequently.  Apparently the Journal is all about mental healthy lately.  This past Tuesday, May 17th, they published an article by Melinda Beck, Helping Kids Beat Depression...by Treating Mom.

Again, I think this one is worth having a look at (check out the powerful image of the Mother's tear drop falling on the child who has her own mini tear drop--yikes).

As a Mother, I am always looking at external influences that may negatively impact my child.  If one of the kids is acting funky, I start wondering what may be throwing them off base.  Did they watch too much TV?  Did something happen at school/the park/an activity?  Did they eat enough?  Have they slept enough?  The list goes on.  We always assume if things aren't working out in our family, it's because of the kids.  Yet parents' state of mind is just as critical.

This article sheds some light on the fact that many Moms are depressed and that depression affects the kids in numerous negative ways (anxiety, easily irritated, disruptive).  So while we are obsessing over why our kids may be out of line, we might want to take a look at ourselves and see how we're doing.  Because wouldn't it be cool if helping ourselves really did help those around us (who happen to be the ones we love the most in the whole wide world)?

Now for the lighter side.

In the Washington Post Express paper, which I pick up for free in the morning outside the babe's school, there was an article on a new book which is making news. Yet it hasn't even been released yet. 

It's called "Go the F*** to Sleep" by Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortes.  It apparently captures the many feelings parents experience while putting a child to sleep who doesn't want to go to sleep.  It is, of course, a spoof, but a spoof on a very relevant topic.  I didn't actually know you could write a book like this!  There are so many annoying little things about parenting that deserve similar treatment.  Perhaps this is the new wave of parenting books...a way to help us all laugh about how ridiculous so much of parenting can be.  I'm looking forward to checking it out.