Time To Parent by Julie Morgenstern: A Book Review ~ Thisnthatparenting

Time To Parent: Organizing Your Life to Bring Out the Best in Your Child and You by Julie Morgenstern is a book that is guaranteed to help parents who are struggling with fitting in all the things into their busy lives. Morgenstern breaks down the information in a manner that made me feel like the framework she suggests is doable. This motivated me to immediately give it a try.

Children spell love T.I.M.E, so it is worth being intentional about how you spend your time. You work so hard to be the best parent you can possibly be. This book shows parents how to work smarter not harder when it comes to what we do with our time.

Time to Parent is unlike anything I have read when it comes to parenting advice. In my opinion, this book will be on the New York Times Best Seller List just like Morgenstern’s previous book. What I love most about the book is that Julie is REAL about how hard parenting can be, but she supports parents in a way that will make it seem less hard.

My second favorite thing about the book is that Julie’s approach to organizing our time is designed around a person’s unique way of thinking, natural habits, and goals. In other words, you can apply her approach to your own parenting beliefs and vision.

Third, the time management tips that Julie gives away in this book are PRICELESS! If parents only did the time management tips Julie gives away, I bet they would say they got more value from the book than they paid!

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Time to Parent by Julie Morgenstern: A Book Review

10 Things You Can Expect to Get From Time to Parent:

A unique framework with eight quadrants that separates parenting responsibilities into actionable, manageable tasks. She divides the framework into 2 equally important parts: Raising a Human Being and Being a Human Being.
Simple strategies to stay truly present and focused on the tasks you’re involved in.
Tips on how 5-15 minutes of undivided attention can transform your and your child’s lives.
Permission to take personal time without feeling guilty, and the science and case studies that show how important self-care is and how to make time for it.
The realization that quality time is a way of being with your child that can make all of your interactions together good-quality interactions.
Julie divides the Raising a Human Being into 4 core responsibilities: Provide, Arrange, Relate, and Teach. She gives an overview and then an in-depth description on how to handle and plan for each by giving each topic a chapter.
Julie divides Being a Human Being into 4 types of self-time: Sleep, Exercise, Love and Fun. Again, she gives an overview and then an in-depth description on how to handle and plan for each by giving each topic a chapter.
Tips for when you have unexpected major life events or crisis
Within all of the discussion, Julie gives tons of real-life examples and ideas for the application which I LOVE and use!
There is an assessment in the book so parents will know where they gravitate. It helps you to realize your strengths and weaknesses if you are not already aware and how to plan accordingly.

A Quote From the Book

Page 29: “Organizing the job gives parents the chance to create the time, confidence, and clarity required to give our kids the all-important fit of undivided attention. Organizing is powerful because it creates the “life infrastructure” that frees us to focus on what truly matters. A blueprint can take us from ambiguity to clarity, the first step in wrapping our arms around the job of being a parent. It positions us to immediately start considering where our strengths lie and what our blind spots may be. It can be used to reflect (Where do I gravitate as a parent and where do I struggle?), to monitor (Now that I am aware of my tendencies, and am I following through on more balanced choices?) and to develop (What is my plan to shore up my weak spots?)“

Wow, that’s simple but genius! I absolutely love that: reflect, monitor, and develop. I believe those 3 steps truly are the foundation of being an intentional parent. Intentional parents are in a constant Reflect, Monitor, Develop…Rinse and Repeat Cycle!

To Wrap It Up

All in all, I feel that this book is a blessing that all parents deserve to be a part of. Parents are constantly stressed about the busyness in their lives and how to meet their child’s needs along with all the other demands of life. I truly believe this book helps to take much of that stress away when parents take the time to do the work. This book does not send the message that parenting is easy, but it does help you to see that it can be simpler.

I know you will agree with me. It is worth it to follow the framework! This is the kind of book that you will leave on your nightstand and refer back to time and again in the course of your parenting journey.

I would love for you to comment on your experience with Time to Parent and the impact it has on your family.