15 Books that Made Me a Good Mother

Do you ever wonder if you are a Good Mother? If you are like many, becoming a better mom seems tough. I have compiled this list of 15 Books that Made Me a Good Mother to share with you. While none of us are perfect parents, these definitely can make us better! The important part is to love our kids, try our best, and always keep trying to do better.

I often see memes in my Facebook feed that say something along the lines of how society is going downhill because parents don't spank their children anymore, yet in 2014 94% of parents of toddlers (3-4-year-olds) reported they had spanked their toddler in the last year. Studies show that children that are physically punished are more likely to use hitting to resolve conflict with their peers and siblings, are at an increased risk for higher levels of childhood aggression, more likely to exhibit anti-social behavior and experience mental health problems, and can even affect brain development.

How can you become a good mother?

As parents, we want to do what's best for our children. Most of us were spanked as children and may have already used spanking as a form of discipline. Reading the above facts about the effects of spanking can be quite alarming, leaving you with feelings of guilt and confusion. No one wants to think that something they have done could have a negative, lasting effect on their child. But once you decide not to spank (or spank again), where do you go from here?

Once I made the decision that spanking was not something I was okay doing, I had a problem: finding a different way to parent than I grew up with. Luckily, I love to read and learn, especially on child development and how to do things better.

I read hundreds (not exaggerating – total bookworm here) of books and articles about parenting. Anything that mentioned spanking as a viable method got skipped past and anything that emphasized that spanking was unnecessary got saved. I discovered parenting methods called Peaceful Parenting, Gentle Parenting, and Positive Parenting. All are pretty similar and focus on providing firm guidelines from a loving stance.