My kids have been out of school for a couple days now and, let me tell you, parenting just got a lot more real around here!  For the past ten months, all four of my children have been spending most of their day at school.  Now that summer break is here?  They're home.  All day.  With assorted friends in tow.  My quiet halcyon days are no more—now they're filled with the sounds of video games, cartoons and whines of "I'm bored" and "Mooommmm, he/she's teasing me!"  Every summer I wonder if I'm going to survive the next couple months, let alone the remainder of my parenting career (which, as you know, is pretty much a life-long thing). 

Enter Julie K. Nelson, a blogger, college professor, and (most importantly) the mother of five children.  Her new book, Keep it Real and Grab a Plunger, offers some tried-and-true, down-to-Earth advice about how to maintain your sanity while working "the toughest job you'll ever love."  Parenting isn't for wimps, after all.  Nelson's 25 Tips for Surviving Parenthood are a little random—they run the gamut from how to soothe your child's fears to inspiring kids through learning their family history to controlling Internet use at home to the importance of having a pet.  Each section offers expert advice pulled from Nelson's own experience, quotes from prominent members of society, and suggestions from other moms who have spent some time in the parenting trenches. 

Keep It Real and Grab a Plunger doesn't say anything new or revolutionary.  You've heard it all before.  But, Nelson says her piece in an upbeat, encouraging manner that makes her book very readable.  Truthfully, I wasn't expecting any big a-ha moments while reading it, so the chapter on yelling (Keep It Real ... and Take a Time-Out) surprised me with its aptness.  It offered some great tactics that I hadn't necessarily considered (Let your kids record your tirades with a cell phone?  That would be sobering.)  As parents, we need all the help we can get (even if we've been on the job so long we think we know everything), and Keep It Real and Grab a Plunger offers that.  Maybe you won't learn anything new from it, but maybe you'll find a nugget or two of useful information.  I did.  So, while this book won't revolutionize the parenting world, it's definitely worth a read.  

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

How many times has a frustrated parent lamented, "If only kids came with an instruction manual!"  Well, guess what?  They do.  Yes, really.  And, where might you find this elusive book of parenting advice?  Simply open your scriptures.  Within the pages of the Bible, The Book of Mormon, and other volumes of holy writ, you will find every lesson a person needs to learn in life as well as examples of how to teach it to your children.  In Parenting with Spiritual Power, LDS teacher and author Julie K. Nelson assures parents that if they will study the stories in the scriptures along with teachings from modern prophets, they will have a clear, step-by-step guide to rearing good, obedient children.   

In the book, Nelson discusses 20 powerful doctrines taught in the scriptures that provide valuable lessons for children (and their parents!), including the power of faith, forgiveness, agency, sacrifice and the loving correction of rebellious behavior.  Nelson reviews the stories of famous scriptural people like Moses; Joseph and Mary; Adam and Eve; Alma and Amulek; and Captain Moroni, then discusses how to apply what these people learned in your own life and those of your kids.  Along with quotes from modern-day prophets, Nelson proves how important each of these doctrines are not just for children, but for all of us.

Nelson provides some very useful information in this short book (it's less than 200 pages).  It's nothing parents, especially those of the LDS faith, haven't heard before and yet it's the kind of stuff that can't be repeated often enough.  Still, I found myself growing a little bit bored with Nelson's detailed recountings of stories I've heard over and over throughout my life.  Parenting with Spiritual Power is a short book that felt really long to me.  I'm not sure why because it's not badly written, it's just exactly what you would expect from an LDS parenting book.  There's nothing that really makes Parenting with Spiritual Power stand out.  My conclusion?  This is a helpful book, but not a terribly exciting one.  Did it make me think?  Yes.  Did it make me yawn?  Also, yes.  In the end, it was just an okay read for me.  

(Readalikes:  Hm, I don't read a lot of books like this [although I probably should], so I can't think of anything.  Can you?)

Grade:  B-

If this were a movie, it would be rated:  G for nothing offensive

To the FTC, with love:  I received a finished copy of Parenting with Spiritual Power from the generous Julie K. Nelson via the folks at Cedar Fort.