Taoist Parenting Stuff

I've signed up for a study with William Martin, author of a book that I find very inspiring, The Parent's Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents. This book is full of profound, inspiring words about gentle parenting and in many regards, unschooling, with words inspired by Taoist writings. The study course he offers lasts for three months and is a study of Taoism and Parenting, very relevant to the current life and times of me. In my efforts to try anything I can to calm down high strung, irritable and angry Mama this is what I'm up to next, starting on September 22nd.

If any of you reading this are interested in his book, be sure not to confuse it with this one with a similar title, The Tao of Parenting: The Ageless Wisdom of Taoism and the Art of Raising Children which I personally found to be much less "Taoist" or even spiritual content wise, it was more of a mainstream parenting advice book that I didn't relate to as a new Taoist, or as the parent I'm striving to be personally. It had lots of little anecdotes of a few different mothers, the single mother, the working mother, all the kids in school, and all kinds of things about chores and responsibility and homework, way too specific and practical to be beautiful and poetic like many Taoist writings that inspire meditation and non-intellectual spiritual feeling for learning and understanding.

The one book of all of these Tao and Parenting books that is my favorite, that was actually my accidental introduction to Taoism itself is the ultra beautiful The Tao of Motherhood by Vimala McClure. It was an introduction to the ideas of cultivating inner stillness and practising non action, and applying these principles to parenting. It's seriously very beautifully written, and I recommend it to all mothers, whether you are interested in Taoism or not. Taoism doesn't need to conflict with other religious beliefs, there is no "God" so to speak in philosophical Taosim which is what most Western Taoist books are based on, so if you want to be inspired to work on your own still presence with your children, this is a great book to read, as is William Martin's.