Mama Rock knows best
Lynette Olson, Special to The Gazette
Originally published 10:44 a.m., June 14, 2008
Updated 10:45 a.m., June 14, 2008
“Mama Rock’s Rules: Ten Lessons for Raising a Houseful of Successful Children,” by Rose Rock with Valerie Graham, HarperCollins, 2008, $22.95
“To be a parent is and should be a calling. There is absolutely nothing as great, challenging, or rewarding as raising a child.” Rose Rock, a mother to 10 children and a foster mother to 17, shares her knowledge and lesson’s learned both as a parent and as a schoolteacher in her new book entitled “Mama Rock’s Rules: Ten Lessons for Raising a Houseful of Successful Children.” She’s witty, she’s unique and she sure knows a thing or two about parenting.
The advice given is stuff that we’ve all heard before, but that deserves repeating, for example the importance of family meals and following through with consequences when rules are broken. The book reminds the reader about how the small things make all the difference, like keeping simple family traditions or rituals. Also included are more controversial positions on parenting.
One thing I enjoyed about this book was that Rock took specific parenting issues and mixed in some personal stories with just the right touch. The Rock children also have anecdotes scattered along the side margins of the pages, showing just how well Mama Rock’s rules work in action.
Rock covers in this book the 10 most important rules by which she lives as a parent. She focuses on a concept in each chapter, providing examples and strategies that she refers to as “Mama’s Mojo” sections. She begins with the idea she calls “I Am Your Mama, Not Your Friend — How being a parent and a friend are completely different and why parents have to find their own friends.” The author takes a look at the value of boundaries, discipline, choices and consequences. She moves on to discuss structure and respect for others and oneself.
There is a chapter, “don’t lie down with anything you don’t want to live with forever,” that deals with strong ideas about sex, love and responsibility for girls and boys. Another chapter deals with reading as a “ticket to progress and a book can take you around the world.” Rock finishes with the idea that children need a spiritual background.
The result is a practical, easy to read book and common sense guide that gives hands on advice that parents can begin to implement right now. This is a book to come back to again and again.