This Week's Top Parenting Links—4/22

I am enjoying the gorgeous spring weather and the fact that my calendar is totally empty this weekend!

We are looking forward to unwinding with the family and getting into the kitchen to start cooking some spring favorites. What are you looking forward to this weekend?

***

One of our readers sent us this recommendation:

Have you ever misplaced your instruction manual? I usually end up throwing them out all together, and then I need it again unexpectedly. The fine folks over at Baby Dot Dot have compiled a list of direct links to crib manufacturers so you don’t have to keep those manuals anymore! What a great idea!

Follow Baby Dot Dot for more great ideas!

We love, love, LOVE to hear what you like reading. If there are any good sites out there we are missing, please shoot us a tweet with your suggestions!

***

And have you checked out our Pinterest boards yet? What are you waiting for?

Featured Pinterest board: Real Kids. Real Stories. – for parents just like you. https://t.co/eYhtHglk4W #parenting pic.twitter.com/cYDGS4hA1f

— Parenting by PJM (@PJ_Parenting) April 14, 2016

***

Another reader alerted us to this site, A Fine Parent.

“Often the most incriminating things that our children hear come from the negative self-talk inside their own heads. And we can’t protect them from what we don’t hear, can we? As it turns out we can. The key to helping our children break out of this habit is to teach them to see it, to own it, and to banish it from their world. “

Head over to A Fine Parent for more Parenting How-To’s

***

This next article has 2 parts (so be sure you click over to Part 2 when you are done!). I am so encouraged and challenged to change the way I pray for my spouse. This is a great “how-to” for a wife of any age.

“We all may have something about our spouse that we wish would change, but what we are focusing on here with God working in our husband’s lives to bring him good not to bring us good though you will find that your soul benefits from praying in profound ways, too.”

Follow Ezer for more great encouragement, DIY projects and recipes

***

Even though my empty nester years are far away on the horizon, I was encouraged to read this article by a veteran mom of three.

“As I approach a stop sign, I realize that my journey forward begins by stopping. So I pause to become still before God, to acknowledge His presence, and it dawns on me that an empty nest is not an empty “next.” After spending years spinning my wheels to take care of everyone else, I thrill to the idea that my own soul matters.”

***

I had the great joy of hearing Kathy Koch in person at the Great Homeschool Convention earlier this month. Her latest book on kids and technology has been challenging us to rethink how we use screen time in our family. This is a short article about using your words to encourage your kids.