Disclosure: I received this book to review. The post contains affiliate links; opinions shared here are 100% mine.
If there’s one thing I did right in my role as a mom, it is to encourage my kids to talk with me about anything. I might cringe inside at their questions, at the shattering of their innocence when a curse word passes their rosebud lips. It might make my heart break a tiny bit when my daughter wonders aloud why her body is shaped differently than the rest of the girls in her class. When my son asks why his friend wouldn’t play with him today, can I withhold my stinging words about the boy’s mother who tried to avoid us at afterschool pickup yesterday? It’s so tough to answer those open, honest, raw questions with the words that make it all better. It’s even harder to believe those gentle words sometimes. Amy Julia Becker, author of Small Talk, does a great job of presenting her own experiences as a mom with question-laden kids.
Those who work with children in any capacity know about the unabashed curiosity that bubbles out of those little minds. I’d wager that there’s not a Sunday School teacher or carpool mom anywhere who hasn’t squirmed in her seat a time or two. While adults have a filter that screens out certain topics (politics…religion…don’t ask, don’t tell) children have no such sieve. They can comment about the turtle-shaped cloud overhead, and in the next breath they’ll ask where babies come from. There’s no perfect guide to these questions, and Small Talk doesn’t claim to be that guide. Instead, Small Talk is about finding true honesty while valuing those questions that kids aren’t ashamed to ask. What I liked best about Small Talk was that Becker doesn’t shy away from her kids — or the deep-thought discussions they shared. This book is a great model for consideration; take the grains of truth found within its pages and apply them to your own conversations with kids. This would be an amazing choice for a mom’s group or women’s Bible study. There are even chapter-by-chapter discussion questions on Becker’s site. Small Talk gave me a different view in respect to the way I talk with my children. It gave me an appreciation for the responsibility God placed on me when entrusting them to my care. The next time my son asks me why the devil doesn’t love God, I’ll have the guts to confront that conversation!
Come back on November 28 for a chance to win a copy of Small Talk! Meanwhile, check out the book trailer:
That’s good that you encouraged open and honest conversations. While we might consider something small or trivial, it means something to children. And if kids are even scared to talk to you about “small” things, they won’t talk to you about big things either.
Talking is such an important thing between anyone. You talk with your friends, you talk with your spouse; it makes sense that you should talk with your children too. If you don’t communicate with them, you can’t know what is going on in their lives or minds.