Book Club: Book Review of The Worry-Free Parent Workbook

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

I recently shared a review of The Worry-Free Parent by Sissy Goff, and now I would like to share about the workbook that can go along with it. The Worry-Free Parent Workbook is a 156-page paperback book that provides "the space and tools you need to grab hold of peace, embrace grace, and become the person, parent, and family you want to be." 

About The Worry-Free Parent Workbook 

Sissy Goff shares that one of her goals for The Worry-Free Parent book was to create conversations. The workbook gives parents the space to have a conversation with the text and dig deeper and more thoughtfully.  Some of the text is the same as in the book, but there is more content so that you can go beyond the book when using the workbook. 

Just like the book, the workbook has 3 sections with 12 chapters: 

1. Understanding Worry and Anxiety 
2. Understanding Ourselves
3. How Anxiety Impacts You
4. How Your Anxiety Impacts Your Kids
5. Help for Your Body
6. Help for Your Mind
7. Help for Your Heart
8. Help for Your Kids
9. Admit Failure, Know Grace
10. Try Softer
11. Trust Your Gut
12. Trust God 

Each chapter ends with a space for you to list three things you are grateful for, three things that bring you hope, and three truths that you want to remember. There is a spot for "today's check-in," which repeats the same questions, including: "What have you learned about yourself as a person?" and "What do you want to put into practice?" 

My Thoughts 

You could use the workbook alone, but you really do need the companion book to be able to fully understand everything in the workbook. I read the book and used the workbook together. I think they complement each other very well. Both offer practical advice. 

There is lots of space to answer the questions. So, if you are someone who likes to take notes in the margin, you'll find this a good book for note-taking. The pages are also thick enough that the ink isn't showing through the other side, too.

I would recommend The Worry-Free Parent Workbook for those parents who are seeking to uncover what keeps them filled with anxiety and worry. It will help them work through worries using Scripture as the basis. Keep your Bible ready in case you wish to look up the verses in your preferred translation, as Goff uses several translations, including The Message.

Other Reviews 

Raising Worry-Free Girls: Helping Your Daughter Feel Braver, Stronger, and Smarter in an Anxious World

Braver, Stronger, Smarter: A Girl's Guide to Overcoming Worry & Anxiety

Brave: A Teen Girl's Guide to Beating Worry and Anxiety

Affiliate links 

Book Club: Book Review of The Worry-Free Parent

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

I have had the joy of reading several other books by Sissy Goff and sharing reviews previously. The most recent book by Sissy Goff that I have read to review is The Worry-Free Parent: Living in Confidence So Your Kids Can Too. The idea behind Goff's latest book is that "worry is contagious but you can stop its spread." She has found that for every anxious child or teen, there is often at least one parent who is anxious. The Worry-Free Parent provides advice, encouragement, and tools to help parents make a difference in their own lives. 

About The Worry-Free Parent 

The 252-page paperback book contains an introduction, notes with references, and three sections broken into 12 chapters. Sections are divided into Understanding the Past, Help for the Present, and Hope for the Future. Many chapters are divided further into five key things that Goff wants to share with the reader, such as "five ways the anxiety of parents impacts the anxiety of kids" or "five things to know about anxiety and your heart." Each chapter also contains numerous questions for you to answer (space is provided in The Worry-Free Parent workbook reviewed separately) as well as "Worry-Free Takeaways," which are the most important parts of the chapter. 

Inside The Worry-Free Parent, you will dig deeper into: 

• How anxiety misinterprets and distorts our thinking 
• How to understand our own anxiety so we can break the cycle 
• How anxiety distracts us or makes us angry 
• The way that anxiety impacts our parenting of our children 
• The science behind anxiety 
• Bible verses that will help calm our anxiety 
• How to find and give ourselves grace
• And more 

My Thoughts About The Worry-Free Parent 

As a parent who is a worrier and quite anxious, I was very happy to see that Sissy Goff had written a book for parents. I have reviewed her other books for children and teens previously and found them useful and informative. 

I was able to relate to a lot of the content in The Worry-Free Parent. I found myself taking notes in the margins and underlining key parts. (The workbook was also very helpful.) While I have read other works about anxiety and worry, it was very nice to read a book rooted in Christianity.  Being presented with Bible verses to read and reflect upon or memorize is a great tool for Christian parents who are anxious. 

While I found The Worry-Free Parent helpful overall, I did have a few concerns. One of my main concerns is how many times Goff references Enneagrams. Personally, I am not convinced that this is a Biblical way to view ourselves or the world. So, while I know it is the popular thing in many circles, including Christian ones, I would have preferred to see less mention of them. I was also concerned with the Bible version quoted frequently. For many of the longer passages, Goff quotes from The Message. I may not hold to just one translation of the Bible for my own reading, but this is one I tend to avoid due to my own research.

And finally, I was taken aback by the reference to Leave It to Beaver and Parenthood. Goff writes, "The older show is Leave It to Beaver, which you're probably too young to have heard of" (209). So, am I too old for the book's demographics because I remember that show and probably watched reruns when I was a child, and I don't know anything about Parenthood? I wish authors, particularly Christian authors, would be more careful when including cultural references, because – as Christians – we do not all hold to the same standards in relation to TV, movies, and music.

Now, I would like to highlight some of the parts that I enjoyed and found very helpful. When discussing help for our heart, Goff writes, "For us to work through our anxiety, we have to do the scary thing." And she continues towards the end of the paragraph that "we can trust in Someone who does bring comfort more than any amount of certainty or control ever could" (147). Since one of my worries causing problems is the desire to know what is going to happen and have control over situations, I found this section very useful. And bringing it back to God is wonderful. And she brings her points back to God a number of times. Goff reminds us to take care of ourselves and how to include Jesus and Prayer in those moments. She also shares a number of verses that speak specifically to our worries (just the verse not the passage of Scripture itself). We can look those up in our Bibles to reframe or replace our anxious thoughts with more positive ones and the truth. 

I would recommend The Worry-Free Parent to those who are anxious parents themselves or who counsel anxious parents. Even with my concerns, there is a firm path to a Biblical approach to help alleviate worries and anxieties. I will be referencing this book for years to come. 

Other Reviews 

Raising Worry-Free Girls: Helping Your Daughter Feel Braver, Stronger, and Smarter in an Anxious World

Braver, Stronger, Smarter: A Girl's Guide to Overcoming Worry & Anxiety

Brave: A Teen Girl's Guide to Beating Worry and Anxiety 

affiliate links 

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Penguins Huddle Up™ Game

 

I received a COMPLIMENTARY copy of this game from Timberdoodle in exchange for my honest opinion. I was not required to write a positive review, nor was I compensated in any other way. This post contains affiliate links. Please see my Terms of Use and Disclosure Policy page for more information. Thank you.

Critical thinking skills are a must. And thanks to Smart Games, it has never been easier to include games that teach critical thinking into your homeschool day. We had the pleasure to play Penguins Huddle Up™ in our homeschool for the past several weeks. It is such a fun but challenging game for our 8- and 10-year-olds. 

What is Penguin Huddle Up™? 

In this multi-level family game, the goal is to gather penguins into a huddle to prevent them from freezing. While you are gathering your penguins together to form a huddle, you are also trying to prevent your opponents from doing the same. The first player who huddles up their penguins wins. 

The game is for two to four players and stimulates flexible thinking, planning, problem-solving, spatial insight, and concentration. With every move by your opponent, you need to reevaluate if your previous plan will still work and adapt to the ever-changing board. 

What is in Your Box? 

• Game board 
• Four penguin families (red, blue, green, yellow) – each with 3 large and 3 small penguins 
• Six ice blocks (4 straight and 2 curved)
• Game rules with two different difficulty levels 

How Do You Play? 

The board is set up by placing the ice blocks on the game board. Next, you and your opponents take turns placing the penguins on the board. If you are playing with only two individuals, you place your opponent's penguins on the board, and they place yours on the board. 

After all the penguins are placed, you take turns moving them closer together. You can move them to an adjacent space, jump over another penguin, or dive underneath the ice using one of the breaks in the ice on the game board. 

Two playing modes!

With the goal being to huddle up the penguins, you want them all to be on adjacent spaces. If you are playing the easier difficulty, they can be next to each other in any way. If you are playing the harder difficulty level, then they all need to be the same height. So, small penguins will need to stand on one of the ice blocks next to the taller penguins of the same color. 

What Did We Think? 

This is such a quick game to learn! But that doesn't mean that it isn't challenging or fun to play. Because each game depends upon where you place the ice blocks and penguins, there are nearly limitless different gaming options. So, it has a very high replay value. 

I love games that encourage critical thinking skills in our children. Our daughter is just beginning to see how all her moves – from setting up the pieces and placing her opponent's penguins to moving them during the gameplay – are connected. Her older brother very quickly caught on that he should place his opponent's penguins as far apart and as far away from breaks in the ice as possible. He strategized from the setting up phase all the way through the playing phase of Penguins Huddle Up™. 

While this game is for ages six and up, I think it is best if children of similar skill level play together. For example, I played several times with our daughter and found it necessary to employ the harder rules for myself, or I would have easily beat her. It was more challenging to play with our son as he really planned ahead all his moves. 

I think this would make a great addition to your gaming shelves. Whether you homeschool or not, your children will enjoy playing this critical thinking game. I think it is one game that doesn't give away that kids are learning as they play it. 

Are you interested in learning about more critical thinking games? Read my reviews of other Timberdoodle Games by visiting my blog reviews.

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Zig Zag Puzzler Review

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Navigate the High Seas through Critical Thinking

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Challenge Your Mind With Horse Academy

Dice, Decks, and Boards: Gobblet Gobblers

Wordless Wednesday: Patches from the United States

My Grandmom, Uncle, and Mom collected patches from a variety of locations. Today, I would like to share some of the ones collected from Canada. 

See patches from Canada, Maryland/D.C., and Florida by visiting my other posts.