Thursday, November 20, 2008

Through The Storm

I recently read the book "Through the Storm" by Lynne Spears. From the hype this book got from the media, I expected to read it and really dislike Lynne for dishing dirt on her children and giving parenting advice just to make a buck.

Instead, what I found was a woman, a mother, who desperately wants the world to see her family through her eyes. She didn't dish up the dirt on Britney's private relationships or the sordid details of Jamie Lynn's pregnancy. She talked about them as a mother would her children, with love and candid honesty about their achievements (good and bad).

I got the feeling from this book that Lynne Spears did what so many mothers do: she lost herself along the way of helping her kids be who they want to be. Sure, not all of us help our kids become pop sensations or television stars but we often cart them music lessons, dance lessons or sports practices and make their lives our priority.

She's at the end of the road with her own children because as adults, they now achieve their goals without her assistance and hindsight has shown her that she should have done the tough parts of parenting more often and taken better care of realizing her own goals. She openly shares her own regrets as a mother and wife but assures the reader that she did what she thought was right at the time.

I don't agree with anyone's parenting choices entirely, including Lynne Spears. I choose not to judge them because I am not in their shoes and the choices they face are very different from those in front of me. Instead, I try to empathize with them and realize that we are all human and have something to learn from one another.

Her book drew me in and made me realize that her family is just that...a family. None are perfect but most are at least trying to be there for one another.

If you want a preview of this book, you can find one here.

1 comment:

Becca said...

That review made me way more interested in reading the book, thanks!