What Not to Expect: A Meditation on the Spirituality of Parenting Named Best Parenting Book of 2006 by the Catholic Press Association

The Catholic Press Association looks for excellence in religious and spiritual publishing and I am delighted that they chose my first book with Crossroad for this honor. I am particularly proud because What Not to Expect speaks to parents of all faith traditions as it seeks a universal and common ground of being for parenting. I hope that my new book How's My Kid Doing will bring more attention to this first book. As my two sons get older, I realize the more the parenting path varies, twists and winds, the more my previously trusty navigational devices fail me, and the more I must embrace with humility the grand mystery of it all. I go back to What Not to Expect more and more often to remind myself that I will never have the answer or the one right technique as a parent. It is about relating to my kids as authentic, free human beings. Parenting is an exercise in plumbing the depths of love that challenges--each day--my stamina, my ego, my intelligence, my past, my emotions, and my character. In this way, parenting is a religious awakening. Most times I am not up to it; most days I stumble; you can't go on-but you go on. And then a smile, a moment of shared silence, a hug, a gleam in the eye breaks through the confusion and you know you are connected. These are moments of revelation.

How's My Kid Doing?

My new book How's My Kid Doing? will be published in September 2008 by Crossroad Publishing Company. It is available for pre-sale on Amazon.com and BN.com. The book documents 69 basic questions I've been asked over the years about sending kids to school. The questions were asked of me as a headmaster but also by fellow parents as we watched our boys and girls play in sports games and on playgrounds and on the beach. Some of the questions I have included in this blog. They range from learning how to read to the new math to getting into college. Please spread the word; I'm not sure that there is another book quite like it on the market right now.