What this Mama is Reading

I've added two new links to blogs I follow and I hope you'll peruse them once in a while as well. Seattle Mama Doc is a pediatrician at Seattle Children's and a mother to young kids. Here's a bit about her blog:

Seattle Mama Doc: A Blog by Dr. Wendy Sue Swanson

This blog caters to one principle I’ve learned along the way: parents just want to do what is right. The desperate love we have for our children can shock us into good and sometimes bad decisions. I believe parents search for and sincerely desire simple answers to the How-What-Why-Who of parenting, the essence of doing right for their children. Often it’s not a simple, isolated situation, or one as complicated as it may feel. And, the abundance of online noise invokes fear in all of us when making decisions for our children. Over time, I hope to illuminate the reality that in pediatrics, doing less is often more. Prevention reigns.

Parents just want to do what is right.

It’s the defining what’s right that, on occasion, remains elusive.

We all want information to facilitate decisions that let us rest easier at night. Having my own two children makes this reach for what is right palpable. I want to help you decipher some of the current medical news I juggle in my life as both a pediatrician and a mother. I will share my stories and tell how it all feels to me. I will ask my colleagues, peers and friends for help, and uncover powerful lessons to share. I’ll offer online helpful resources, and share methods I learn from patients, friends and family, both in and out of the field of medicine, to help me find answers.

Read. Listen. Trust. Speak.

Uncover your instincts.

Do what is right for your children.

Speak up. Keep me posted on what you think.

Brain Rules for Baby

The second blog I'm reading is from :

John Medina, author of "Brain Rules" and "Brain Rules for Baby," is a developmental molecular biologist and research consultant. He is an affiliate Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He is also the director of the Brain Center for Applied Learning Research at Seattle Pacific University.

Most importantly, he's also a parent! Here's an excerpt from his book intros:

What’s the single most important thing you can do during pregnancy? What does watching TV do to a child’s brain? What’s the best way to handle temper tantrums? Scientists know.

In his New York Times bestseller Brain Rules, Dr. John Medina showed us how our brains really work—and why we ought to redesign our workplaces and schools. Now, in Brain Rules for Baby, he shares what the latest science says about how to raise smart and happy children from zero to five. This book is destined to revolutionize parenting. Just one of the surprises: The best way to get your children into the college of their choice? Teach them impulse control.

Brain Rules for Baby bridges the gap between what scientists know and what parents practice. Through fascinating and funny stories, Medina, a developmental molecular biologist and dad, unravels how a child’s brain develops – and what you can do to optimize it.

I hope you'll read along with me once in a while and share what you think!