Marriage and Parenting: brief reviews

taken from Goodreads.com

JT and I just finished this book after reading it with our small group over the course of the last couple months. Its basic premise is that there are 10 emotional needs that every person needs, although 5 are typically associated with women and 5 are typically associated with men. There is a chapter on each need and a survey in the back of the book for each spouse to take in order to determine which needs they specifically identify the most with. We liked this book; even though a lot of it seemed common sense and straightforward to us, there were certainly a lot of points that made an impact and gave us great starting points for conversation and change in our relationship. There were also a handful of points he made that we didn't quite agree with, but no book is perfect. I definitely think that if you're feeling at a loss or in need of direction in your marriage this is a great starting point. The thing that's helpful about this book, I think, is that even though each chapter just kind of scratches the surface on each issue/need, there are a couple hundred books out there written on each of these 10 needs that you can dive into as needed for a deeper level of help and direction. It's a great starting point, though.

taken from Goodreads.com

I picked this book up a little bit ago after JT heard an interview with the writer on Focus on the Family. After finishing Created to be His Help Meet, I was looking for a parenting book and I started this one. I didn't necessarily dislike this book, but it was kind of "eh." There just wasn't a lot of depth to it and there wasn't anything I read that wasn't either common sense or way over on the other end of the spectrum, taking parenting to an extreme that I don't think is entirely necessary. I ended up skimming the last half of it or so so I could move on. I like the basic argument of the book (that parents need to be intentional and proactive in making their home a comfortable, safe, and warm environment for their children), and pretty much could have gotten that from the back of the book.