Growing Up Social by Gary Chapman + Giveaway!!

Growing Up Social by Gary Chapman (#1 New York Times bestseller The 5 Love Languages) & Arlene Pellicane + Giveaway!

About the book:

-Softcover

-209 pages

-Parent Resources

-Discussion Guides for every chapter (perfect for a bible study!)

Is technology bringing your family closer together or driving you farther apart?

Children today are no longer playing hide-and-seek outside or curling up with a good book—instead they’ve been introduced to a world of constant digital entertainment through television, video games, and mobile devices. And while technology has the potential to add value to our lives and families, it can also erode a sense of togetherness and hinder a child’s emotional and social development.

In Growing Up Social, Gary Chapman and Arlene Pellicane will empower you with the necessary tools to make positive changes…starting today. Through stories, wit, and wisdom, you’ll discover how to take back your home from an over dependence on screens. Plus, you’ll learn to teach the five A+ skills that every healthy child needs to master: affection, appreciation, anger management, apology, and attention.

•Equip your child to be relationally rich in a digital world

•Replace mindless screen time with meaningful family time

•Establish simple boundaries that make a huge difference

•Discover what’s working for families that have become screen savvy

•Learn healthy ways to occupy your child while you get things done

Now is the time to equip your child to live with screen time, not for screen time. No phone, tablet, or gaming device can teach your child how to have healthy relationships—only you can.

Check out the book trailer here!

Here’s the official website

Review:

When I was first asked to review a copy of Growing Up Social, I was a little excited as it sounded like something I would really be interested in reading. When I was a child, we didn’t have the same resources as children today have. It’s a whole different world now, compared to what it used to be when I was my son’s age.

I didn’t grow up with computers and I actually didn’t get to see one or work on one until I was maybe 12-13 years old. Now kids are practically born with computers/electronic devices in their hands. If I were to ask my child what a floppy disc was or what a record was, he’d just look at me strange.

I remember being able to play outside alone and running around the neighborhood with the neighbor kids. We’d all run in and out of each other’s houses without telling our parents where we even were. We’d go out early and come back late. Now, we need to know where our children are at all times and they can’t be alone or running around on the streets or in and out of people’s houses.

I let my son use his tablet and his DS, or whatever else he may want to use, but I set limits. I like for him to play with his creative thinking toys, or to play outside when it’s nice out. We like to break away from all the electronic devices as much as possible as I don’t think it’s especially healthy for kids to live on them. I think it’s healthy for kids to use their imagination, be creative, and have fun on their own. My son loves to play outside, play with his cars and trucks, do puzzles and word games, and he loves to draw.

It’s easy to get away from the time limits of the devices and to just let children play for hours on end on them, but how do we get back to a balanced usage? How do we balance the needs of school usage and fun on these devices, while at the same time limiting them? How do we get our children to see that family time is way more fun and meaningful than hours spent on a device?

There are quite a few excuses that parents tend to use as reasons to not enforce limits (I know a few who do this). The book mentions a few common exscuses:

“Life is busy; I don’t have time to enforce screen-time rules.”
“I couldn’t get my spouse to back up what I was doing.”
“My kids threw a fit when I tried to make the change.”
“It’s so hard to be consistent.”

Dr. Chapman breaks down ways to keep your child entertained without using electronics, even for those children that are under two years old.

Also in the book, Dr. Chapman goes on to say that, “It is our job as a parent to teach our children the difference between appropriate and inappropriate content. Do not leave the task to a teacher, pastor, or counselor. IN the same way you would not allow your child to eat candy bars for dinner each night, you cannot allow your child to consume screen-time junk food. You are the gatekeeper of your child’s mental diet.”

Here is the list of chapters in this book:

1. Screen Time: Too Much, Too Soon?
2. The A+ Method for Relational Kids
3. The A+ Skill of Affection
4. The A+ Skill of Appreciation
5. The A+ Skill of Anger Management
6. The A+ Skill of Apology
7. The A+ Skill of Attention
8. Screen Time and Shyness
9. Screen Time and the Brain
10. Screen Time and the Love Languages
11. Screen Time and Security
12. Screen Time and Parental Authority
13. Screen Time and the Single Parent
14. Screen Time and You

This book has so much more information, so much more than I can discuss here in this blog. If you would like to read this book for yourself, you can enter to win the book for yourself in my blog’s GIVEAWAY or you can purchase it for yourself on Amazon.com.

GIVEAWAY

Win your own copy of Gary Chapman's "Growing Up Social"

Entry-Form

The Green God: Stories from the Golden Age Audio Drama

About:

This is an audio drama of two stories that are part of the Stories from the Golden Age, a series of original fiction by L. Ron Hubbard written during the 1930s & 40′s. This is their newest release in the series.

Synopsis:

Private detective Sam Spade nearly died chasing The Maltese Falcon. But what Spade faced in pursuit of the black bird was child’s play compared to what Lieutenant Bill Mahone of Naval Intelligence endures in China when he sets out to find The Green God. Mahone’s convinced he knows who stole the sacred idol and he’s determined to get it back. But he’s walking a razor’s edge—between worship and warfare, between a touch of heaven and a taste of bloody HELL.

He’s tortured with knives, threatened with a slow, painful death, and buried alive. And then things get really nasty. The entire Chinese city of Tientsin is under siege from within—the streets filled with rioting, arson, mass looting and murder. And all because the city’s sacred idol, the Green God, has gone missing.

Review:

This was the first of Hubbard’s work that I have encountered. I read the synopsis and it sounded very engaging, entertaining, and the kind of drama that would keep me on my toes. I was not disappointed.

“The Green God” is an exciting tale of Lieutenant Bill Mahone of Naval Intelligence.  Someone has stolen a jade idol, and the city of Tientsin has erupted in riots.  There’s a minimum of exposition, and the lieutenant is in constant danger from the first sentence.  Among other things, he is buried alive according to the customs of the local Chinese.

The main story was great to listen to while in the car, while walking, or just at home relaxing. It was very enjoyable. It was a nice escape from reality at times!

This audio drama was great in that the actors and voices were excellent and the bonus drama “Five Mex for a Million” was also enjoyable.

You can find this, THE GREEN GOD by L Ron Hubbard and other great books in audio format at Amazon

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

eBook: Melting Into You (Due South Book 2) - By Tracey Alvarez

About:

Love small-town romance with an unforgettable cast of characters? The Due South series will transport you to an unspoiled wild island off the coast of New Zealand. Meet Kezia and Ben...

Big, sexy men who don’t relate well to kids need not apply…

Kezia Murphy plays her widow card well. When you don’t trust people not to let you down, it’s easier to not get involved—and getting involved with a man who makes her skin sizzle just by looking at him would be una pazzia—crazy! Four years ago while Kezia’s daughter, Zoe, battled leukemia, a tragic accident stole her husband’s life. Starting over in the little town of Oban where she’s adopted into the close knit community on Stewart Island, Kezia and her daughter are all the family the other needs. Except Zoe yearns for more.

New Zealand’s worst candidate for instant fatherhood…

Ben doesn’t do gooey emotional stuff.  He doesn’t do cosy home and family. And he sure isn’t the big teddy-bear Kezia Murphy, the woman he secretly fantasises about, thinks he is. So when Jade, his surprise eight-year-old daughter arrives on his doorstep, he’s a D-minus student struggling to pass a crash-course in parenting.

They’ll either melt or raze their lives to the ground…

When the sparks of attraction between Kezia and Ben fan into an inferno, Ben doesn’t know how much longer the layers of resistance around his heart can resist melting into the gooey mess he fears. The more he fights it the harder it is to make the choice that will destroy the family he now longs to claim.

Review:

Melting Into You is the second book of the Due South Series by Tracey Alvarez. While it helps to read the first book in the series, this particular book is great as a standalone.

The author puts together a confirmed bachelor with an eight-year-old, who is ends up being his, together is entertaining, fun, and occasionally awkward. The main characters, Kezia and Ben, develop a steamy romance with each other. Along the way there are many interesting twists that have you laughing and cringing.

Ben is a man who really doesn’t have an easy time communicating his emotions and Kezia who has been through a lot and has trouble trusting.

I really enjoyed that this story showed the innocence of children and the ability of children to win over the hearts of even the most contemptuous of people and make them change their outlook on life. This book is hard to put down and you just want to read it in one sitting.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a captivating read!

You can get a copy of Melting Into You on SmashWords.com or Amazon.com

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Ebook: Argan Oil: Quick Guide to Best Uses of Argan Oil for Hair, Skin and Nails - Kindle Book Review & #Giveaway

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

This book is a great resource for anyone who loves using argon oil and wants to know more about its origins and what all you can use it for.

Reading through this book you’ll find how they get argon oil from the Argan tree and how difficult it is to get the oil itself. You will also get information on how to stay away from argon oil imitators.

Argon oil is practically liquid gold that can be used for everything from hair to skin and nails. Argan oil can be used to heal various skin conditions and has many various healing properties. Argan oil is amazing because it is not at all greasy, does not have a strong odor and is nice and smooth.

This book also has a treasure trove of recipes using argon oil.

I always thought that Argan oil was just for hair but this book really taught me differently. It gave me a ton of ideas for what I can use Argan oil for, not just hair. I love that it has a ton of different recipes that I can use with Argan oil. I also love that it goes into a background of the Argan tree and how the whole process comes about.

Giveaway!!!


a Rafflecopter giveaway


I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.