Thursday, May 7, 2015

Blog Tour/Review: Keep it Real and Grab a Plunger by Julie K. Nelson


Tour Schedule


Keep it Real and Grab a Plunger: 25 Tips for Surviving Parenthood, by Julie K. Nelson
2015, 176p, Non-Fiction
My Rating=5 Stars
Source: Received a copy from the publisher for an honest review



As a popular blogger, a college professor, and a frequent parenting guest expert on TV, you might suspect Julie K. Nelson is immune to the realities of actual parenting. But in fact, she’s been there—through all the late nights, huge messes, and tough moments.

Now she combines her expertise with her experience as a mom of five in this entertaining and pragmatic book. Learn how to overcome your natural manipulative, authoritarian tendencies and foster your child’s self-discipline, respect, and emotional maturity.

Humorous, insightful, and authentic, this book will get you through the sticky stuff with grace so you can enjoy those parenting moments that make it all worth it.


This is a parenting book that is FUN to read! I have read some parenting books where I have felt like such a failure, especially when my children were younger, and this one didn't leave me feeling that way at all. I was glad to see that I already implement some of the ideas she gave. There were plenty more that I want to try to see if they will work for our family.

There's a broad range of topics and not all of them applied to me but I still enjoyed hearing her advice in those areas. For example, co-parenting after divorce and parenting blended families. I also no longer need to worry about kindergarten readiness or potty training (thank goodness!). I'm starting to head into the teenage years and am open to advice in that area so I enjoyed what she had to say about that.

One of my favorite chapters was the one on positive v. pirate parenting. They are two different parenting approaches. I started out more authoritarian and "pirate-y" but either my children or my age has mellowed me out quite a bit and I try to use positive guidance these days. I still need to work on this in certain areas (like practicing the piano) and liked the examples she gave which will help keep me on course. 

I liked the multiple chapters on how to enjoy children in each phase of life and make tons and tons of memories through games, traditions, mealtimes, hobbies and any other way you can think of. She gives plenty of suggestions so there's no reason to feel stuck in any of those areas.

I also enjoyed her writing style--it was full of humor while still getting her point across in a succinct manner. If you've been parenting for several years now or are just starting out, there is something for everyone in here. This is a parenting book I highly recommend!





About the author:

Popular radio personality, university professor, author, and TV expert Julie K. Nelson combines her professional expertise with her personal experience as a mom of five in this book. Humorous, insightful, and authentic, this must-read will help you enforce rules without manipulation or coercion and addresses a wide variety of essential parenting topics.

1 comments:

Unknown said...

Hey we are blog twins today! My post went up today about this book. I loved it. She cracked me up during the whole book. I totally agree with you, I don't usually read parenting books because of they way they make me feel. This one did not do that though. It was awesome. Great Review Mel!

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