It’s always an uplifting experience to read a title from the
Chicken Soup for the Soul anthologies. I
just finished “Parenthood – 101 Heartwarming and Humorous Stories about the
Joys of Raising (disclosure: we
received a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review).Children of All Ages,” by authors Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Amy Newmark.
The book follows the Chicken Soup formula: presenting short
inspiring tales from different contributors; here, they relate the joys and
tribulations of childrearing. The book
is equal parts heartstring-tugging and funny.
Tales range, for instance, from a newborn who needs emergency surgery,
to a tired mom thwarted in her efforts to go to bed early, to a dad’s musings
on his daughter growing up, to a mom’s effort to communicate to her son with
autism.
While some might view these types of stories as schmaltzy,
for me, they are a reminder that every family has its own particular situations
to deal with. People have problems, make
mistakes and don’t have all the answers.
But somehow, the joys of having a child come through and (hopefully)
outweigh the negatives.
There were a few stories that resonated with me. “Priorities” details a father’s feeling
bogged down by the minutiae of life (bills, household tasks, etc.) until he
receives a wake-up call in the form of his toddler’s scream. “Suddenly, nothing in the world was
imperative except making sure that my girl was okay.” Thankfully, she was and he was left with a
readjusted view of life.