9 Fantastic Resources for Jewish Mothers 
by Chana Jenny Weisberg
1. Battle Plans
Each of us can envision her in our minds eye: the perfect mother. The mother who doesn't lose it when the egg crashes BEHIND the dishwasher (this actually happened to me yesterday), who is a joyful, glowing, calm presence in the middle of the 6 PM hullabaloo, who is a real-life Woman of Valour.
But how do we become that mother?
My favorite book of all time for Jewish moms is not actually a book on mothering at all. Battle Plans: How to Fight the Evil Inclination by Rebbetzin Tziporah Heller and Sara Yoheved Rigler (Artscroll) is a book for all of us who yearn to become that mother in our minds eye. This is one of the wisest books I've ever read, with practical, step-by-step instructions, based on the wisdom of our Sages, about how every mom can combat depression, frustration, anger, and all the other destructive emotions that pull us down, and keep us from becoming the Jewish moms of our dreams. Two thumbs up (from my left AND right hand) for Battle Plans!
Read a sample chapter and order online at http://www.artscroll.com/Books/bath.html
2. Rabbi Noach Weinberg's 48 Ways
Every night I listen to classes downloaded from Aish.com as I wash dishes and pack tomorrow's lunches and sweep up that day's accumulation of cornflakes and hair elastics and unidentified what-not scattered across the floors of our home.
I cannot tell you how much these classes have improved my life, how much they have added joy and meaning to my hours of late night cleaning drudgery.
My favorite classes of all are from the Rosh Yeshiva or Dean of Aish HaTorah, Rabbi Noach Weinberg. Rabbi Weinberg is brilliant; he also has nearly unparalleled levels of pure positive energy. Every new student at Aish Hatorah would take a series of classes called the 48 Ways to a Meaningful Life which instruct students how to live better, more efficient, more meaningful lives.
These are the smartest classes I have ever heard- for mothers and all other human beings alike. Download the classes to listen for free, or read the transcribed version online (I liked them so much, I printed up the classes, and bound them into books in order to study and lend out to my friends).
To download the audio classes:
http://www.aishaudio.com/search/results.php?sid=102vgh4cnq2jy00&from=&topsearch=true&speakerdb=Weinberg%2C+Rabbi+Noah&topsearchstr=&start=21&total=103
The 48 Ways in Print http://www.aish.com/omerThemes/omerThemesDefault/Counting_with_the_48_Ways_.asp
3. Bread and Fire: Jewish Women Find G-d in the Everyday edited by Rebbetzin Rivkah Slonim (Urim)
Most weeks, the only time I have to sit down and read a book is on Shabbat. Problem is, one of my favorite parts of reading is underlining the sentences and paragraphs I like best so I can go back and savor them like butterscotch candies. I was so happy when I figured out that even though I can't write on Shabbat, I can mark my favorite phrases and ideas with paperclips.
For the past three Shabbats, I have been reading Rivki Slonim's new book Bread and Fire. By the time I am done with it every Shabbat, the book almost weighs more in paperclips than paper. Sometimes I have placed ten paper clips on ONE PAGE.
This book is a collection of very personal, extremely honest, and always thought-provoking articles by Jewish women about central experiences and turning-points in our lives as mothers and Jewish women. It is about connecting with G-d in our everyday lives.
I can't remember the last time I read something this fascinating, this uplifting, this enjoyable. It is a true page-turner, I always want to read one more essay before I put it down.
This book is a treasure chest for every Jewish woman. I have already ordered six copies to give out to friends and relatives, and recommend everyone reading this to get this new book ASAP.
4.TheJewishWoman.org
Editor Sara Esther Crispe has put together thousands of fascinating and excellent articles on motherhood, pregnancy, infertility in this amazing site that is an unparalleled resource for Jewish moms and moms-to-be worldwide. There has never been such a tremendous resource for Jewish women in the internet.
Check out TheJewishWoman.com, and don't forget to join their weekly newsletter to learn about Support!
5. Mother Nurture by Rick and Jan Hanson, and Ricky Polycove MD
Did you ever go to the doctor feeling totally wiped out and worn down and the doctor told you your iron is border-line, but still within the normal range, and sends you home with a clean bill of health?
Mother Nurture is the book for all the women who just haven't felt like themselves since they became mothers. Co-written by a nutritionist, psychologist, and an OB/GYN, Mother Nurture provides a holistic prescription for what the authors call "Depleted Mother Syndrome." Chapters with practical advice on parenting, lowering stress, increasing energy, lifting your mood, and building teamwork with your spouse.
This book should be on the bookshelf of every mother of young children.
Learn more http://www.nurturemom.com/
6. The Nechoma Greisman Anthology
Did you ever look back on yourself one or five or ten years ago, and wonder how you ever survived marriage and motherhood and life in general without all the wisdom that you have gained since then? This happens to me a lot. And I wonder, in particular, how I ever managed before I read the Nechoma Greisman Anthology.
Nechoma Greisman was a rebbetzin, mother of a large family, and emissary of the Lubavitcher Rebbe in Israel. She gives simple yet amazingly smart and helpful advice about how to run a bustling Jewish home with maximum efficiency and happiness. She also provides a lot of words of inspiration about our holy work as Jewish mothers.
Unfortunately, The Nechoma Greisman Anthology is out of print, but you can read the whole book online at:
http://www.sichosinenglish.org/books/the-nechoma-greisman-anthology/index.html
7. The Faber and Mazlish Parenting Series
The parenting books of Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish: How to Talk so Children will Listen and Listen so Children Will Talk, Siblings without Rivalry, and Liberated Parents/Liberated Children have sold millions of copies and been translated into dozens of languages. And there's good reason why. The parenting techniques described in these books are so simple yet so effective that they have a magical and immediate effect on most children and families.
These books are required reading for all mothers who have ever asked themselves "So, what do I do now?!"when their child stages a sit-in in the toiletries aisle of the grocery store, or their little angels are fighting like cats and dogs, or their two-year-old or five-year-old or sixteen-year-old has been biting all the other children in the playground.
Every mother, no matter how good or devoted or natural-born she is, can benefit from some smart parenting advice!
Learn more at: http://www.fabermazlish.com/
8. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
This is one of those books that should be read by every mother and human being. Like the 48 Ways, in his groundbreaking book Stephen Covey will enable you to figure out what your ultimate values are, and then create a system that will enable you to live in accordance with them.
Covey, for example, asks readers to imagine what relatives and friends will say about them at their funeral. Then he asks you to write your dream eulogy. The words that you dream will come out of the mouths of your husbands, children, and friends are your ultimate dreams and aspirations for this life.
But how do we achieve our ultimate dreams and aspirations? Covey points out something brilliant and oh so true- that we spend most of our time dealing with things that are important and urgent- the diaper in need of changing, the electricity bill in need of paying, the work project due tomorrow on your boss' desk.
But our constant focus on urgent matters means that we end up ignoring things that are equally or more important, but not urgent. For example, is there anything more important than investing in our relationships with our children and spouses? Is there anything more important than taking care of our health with regular check-ups, and regular exercise and sleep? But because these things are important, but not urgent, your daily quality time with your five-year-old falls by the wayside, as does your daily walk, or your bi-annual dentist visit.
Covey provides easy-to-use tools to help us bring our long-term dreams and goals into our present reality.
Learn more at http://www.stephencovey.com/
9. Classes of Rabbi Noach Orlowek
Rabbi Orlowek has spent 25 years as an educator, and it shows. What I like best about his parenting classes is Rabbi Orlowek's tremendous humility, hard-won wisdom, and unflappable positive energy. Highly recommended.
http://www.aishaudio.com/search/results.php?sid=ryfq7n51e2vknqt&from=&topsearch=true&speakerdb=Orlowek,+Rabbi+Noach&topsearchstr=&start=41&total=79
