Sometimes what ails you at work is what ails you at home. If you have ever worked from home (or thought about it) pick up Life’s Work: Confessions of an Unbalanced Mom by Lisa Belkin. She’ll stop you before you do great damage to yourself. Belkin, the author of the witty weekly Life’s Work column in The New York Times, exposes the myths and joys of work, family and the balancing act that almost every woman tries to perform before realizing that it’s all just too much. With humor and happiness, Belkin describes the exacting way her kids and even her dog took all control from her life. They left her with a little time to work at the computer and a lot of time to clean up and make dinner for them. After Life’s Work you’ll never look at life and work the same way again.

<B>What love’s got to do with it</B> You might fight like cats and dogs, but where would you be without dear old mom? Without her attention and affection? And endless advice? Sure, her helpful hints are often unasked-for (and sometimes shrilly delivered), but they’re sent with unconditional love the kind only mothers can provide. So take a tip from BookPage and remember mom this month with one of the terrific titles listed below.

Motivational speaker Cherie Carter-Scott, Ph.

D., commemorates the maternal role in <B>The Gift of Motherhood: 10 Truths for Every Mother</B>. Author of the best-selling advice book, <I>f Life is a Game, These are the Rules</I>, Scott, who has worked with Fortune 500 companies like American Express and IBM, offers 10 insights about motherhood that she has gleaned from personal experience and from years of coaching women all over the world. The universals she presents in the book Remembering to care for yourself is essential and Love shows up in many different forms are examined in-depth and illustrated by inspiring anecdotes from real-life moms. <B>The Gift of Motherhood</B> also functions as a how-to guide to parenting, proposing practical strategies for dealing with mother-daughter conflicts, for envisioning the type of mother you want to become and achieving that vision for being both friend and authority figure to your child. Each of Scott’s truths serves to demystify the role of mother, providing support for the struggling parent. Transcending race, religion and nationality, her words of wisdom and humor will energize future and seasoned mothers alike. With <!–BPLINK=–>1930170025<B>Busy Woman’s Cookbook</B><!–ENDBPLINK–>, authors Sharon and Gene McFall share more than 500 recipes that are sure to ease a mother’s greatest domestic burden. For those without the time or inclination to experiment in the kitchen, this back-to-the-basics book offers three- and four-element recipes, composed of easily accessible ingredients, that take the complexity out of cooking. From Old Time Meat Loaf to Skinny Minny Pork Chops, from Cinnamon Coffee Cake to Sopaipillas, creative ideas for appetizers, entrees, salads and desserts are simply and briefly presented. Downhome or exotic, old-fashioned or new-fangled, there’s a dish for every food preference. Amusing anecdotes and fascinating facts (200 to be exact) about famous women enliven the text. A sturdy cover and spiral binding make the book easy to handle in the kitchen. <B>Busy Woman</B> lets the overwhelmed mother put meal planning where it belongs on the back burner.

For moms who are coming-of-age, consider <!–BPLINK=–>0696213907<B>Fifty Celebrate Fifty: Fifty Extraordinary Women Talk About Facing, Turning and Being Fifty</B><!–ENDBPLINK–>, a book of sparkling photos and fabulous interviews from the editors of <I>More</I> magazine. The volume features candid talks with women who are better than ever at mid-life, including Diane Sawyer, Amy Tan, Susan Sarandon and Phylicia Rashad. The book includes a broad range of voices women from various cultures and career arenas who testify with pride about hitting their stride at 50. AIDS activist Beverly Mosley talks about living with HIV. Newscaster Judy Woodruff discusses coping with her son’s brain injury. These honest accounts of juggling family and career, of overcoming obstacles and achieving inner peace will inspire females of any age. Experience is sexy, says Susan Sarandon. And today, women can be sexy and 50. Indeed, the future has never looked brighter for these confident, accomplished women, each of whom combines the poise of youth with the wisdom that only age can bring. A tribute to diversity, beauty and individuality, <B>Fifty Celebrate Fifty</B> is a great way to remind mom that the best really is yet to come. <I> The job of mother most often plays itself out not on the lofty levels of Hallmark splendor but rather in the trenches of day-to-day life. </I> Cherie Carter-Scott <I>The Gift of Motherhood</I>

Are we raising a generation of great test-takers but uninspired thinkers? Stacy DeBroff thinks so. In The Mom Book Goes to School, DeBroff doles out some essential advice on how parents can make sure their children are getting the most out of elementary and middle school in an age when high-stakes testing all too often seems to supplant creativity and joyful learning. Here’s the best part: she explains how to do it without becoming the pushy parent every teacher secretly dreads.

A well-known parenting guru who’s written a series of mom-centric advice books, DeBroff views education as a family affair. In The Mom Book Goes to School, she recognizes that creating a home environment that encourages academic success is just as important as fostering a good parent-teacher relationship. She suggests ways to help children organize their homework, get excited about learning and make the morning rush as stress-free as possible. DeBroff also demystifies the parent-teacher relationship, right down to what kinds of gifts are most useful for teachers and how to approach teachers when problems arise.

In the course of her research, DeBroff talked to hundreds of parents and teachers, whose words of wisdom are scattered throughout the book. While DeBroff herself is clearly an expert on the issue, the anecdotes from those in the field lend a valuable dimension. The easy-to-digest bullet point format makes this book a must-read for even the busiest parents.

Adam Wasson’s hilarious Eats, Poops ∧ Leaves is a must for parents or parents-to-be. Wasson proves himself to be the Emily Post of parenting, except that he’s really funny. Just check out the book’s subtitle: The Essential Apologies, Rationalizations, and Downright Denials Every New Parent Needs to Know and Other Fundamentals of Baby Etiquette. Chapters include Beyond Aubrey and Ashlee: Naming Etiquette and Avoiding a Bad Wrap: Gift Etiquette. Wasson raises, and answers, the crucial questions, such as what to do if strangers confuse your bald baby girl for a boy or what to do if your baby shrieks at a wedding (this, by the way, is NOT okay). If you are a hip, witty parent, or just think you are, this is the book for you and your parent peers. It makes the perfect baby shower present. Campy illustrations and diagrams accompany the text. Even if you’re crying on the inside from sleep-deprivation and new-parent confusion, at least you’ll be laughing on the outside.

Katherine Wyrick lives in Little Rock and is the mother of two small children.

One of the newest additions to The Brazelton Way series is Mastering Anger and Aggression by America’s Pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., and Joshua D. Sparrow, M.D. This slim, accessible volume is perfect for a parent dealing with this issue, and, frankly, who isn’t? Mastering Anger and Aggression not only addresses biting, kicking and teasing, but gets to the source of a child’s anger. The doctors show parents how to help children handle anger in healthy ways and even how to channel it into something positive. This is an indispensable guide that should be part of every parent’s library.

Katherine Wyrick lives in Little Rock and is the mother of two small children.

One of the newest additions to The Brazelton Way series is Understanding Sibling Rivalry by America’s Pediatrician T. Berry Brazelton, M.D., and Joshua D. Sparrow, M.D. This slim, accessible volume is perfect for a parent dealing with this issue, and, frankly, who isn’t? In Understanding Sibling Rivalry, these doctors take on topics such as squabbling and tattling, the effects of birth order and even how to introduce your new child into the family after birth. This is an indispensable guide that should be part of every parent’s library.

Katherine Wyrick lives in Little Rock and is the mother of two small children.

The American family as we know it is changing. Nontraditional families now make up a large part of the population, with almost 10 million single mothers in the U.S. alone. This demographic will certainly be interested in Raising Boys Without Men, a fascinating study that makes a potentially controversial assertion: that households headed by a female, or females, may actually be better for boys than households with men. Dr. Peggy F. Drexler, a research psychologist and former gender scholar at Stanford, embarked on a long-term study comparing female-headed households with those that had a father present. The results that boys from female-headed households have a strong masculine identity but are emotionally stronger and better at expressing their feelings are surprising and heartening for single moms. From a sociological standpoint, this well-researched book makes interesting reading for single and married parents alike.

Katherine Wyrick lives in Little Rock and is the mother of two small children.

Signing is great, but whining, that’s another story. Everyone knows the sound; it’s the one thing that can make the most patient of parents loose their cool. If whining, fighting and generally misbehaving are the problems, here is the answer. For straightforward, no-nonsense advice, just dial Nanny 911: Expert Advice for All Your Parenting Emergencies. Written by star TV-nannies Deborah Carroll and Stella Reid, Nanny 911 comes to the rescue with simple solutions. Their plan: rules, boundaries, structures, order. They offer a no-frills map for those temporarily lost in the aforementioned wilderness. The nannies’ House Rules and their belief that communication is key to successful parenting ring true. If you’ve ever felt like you’re trapped in an episode of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom, keep this practical guide handy.

Katherine Wyrick lives in Little Rock and is the mother of two small children.

Signs, signs, everywhere are signs . . . Trying to understand the wants and needs of babies and toddlers can often feel like attempting communication with alien life forms. Many parents find that using sign language for their hearing children is an effective way to bridge the gap, and it’s catching on faster than you can sign more. Signing Smart with Babies and Toddlers: A Parent’s Strategy and Activity Guide is a comprehensive manual for those interested in this latest trend in parenting. Along with American Sign Language (ASL) signs, the authors, both developmental psychologists, include fun, educational activities aimed at deepening the closeness between parent and child. They also include photos throughout as visual aids.

Katherine Wyrick lives in Little Rock and is the mother of two small children.

Teenage Waistland, written by Abby Ellin, addresses the timely subject of childhood obesity. There’s been a slew of books on this topic recently, but this one stands out from the pack. Subtitled A Former Fat Kid Weighs in on Living Large, Losing Weight, and How Parents Can (and can’t) Help, Teenage Waistland is written by a journalist and former fat-camp participant/counselor who has a unique, empathetic perspective on this issue. Ellin, whose work has appeared in The New York Times, Time, Cosmopolitan and other major publications, writes with compassion and humor about the trials of overweight kids and what parents can do to help. Anyone who’s ever dealt with a weight problem will benefit from her insights.

Katherine Wyrick lives in Little Rock and is the mother of two small children.

I remember laying my first-born child down on our bed when we brought him home from the hospital. My husband and I stood looking down at this unpredictable, demanding little life force in awe and wonder. We had just changed his diaper for the umpteenth time, and he was already wet again. Was this normal? Was changing him so often doing more harm than good? We laughed at ourselves. All our preparations the brightly painted nursery, the baby books we had absorbed, the bottles, blankets and toys we had accumulated all our preparations had not quite prepared us for the bundle of need and energy before us. We soon realized that parenting was a never-ending series of judgment calls, and that from diapers to diplomas we’d be struggling with decisions about what was best for our child.

Fortunately, new parents, and long-time parents faced with new problems, need not feel completely alone in finding the best path to follow. Many sources of advice are available, including a huge array of parenting books that address the social context in which kids and parents find themselves today. BookPage has sorted through this season’s crop of parenting books and selected a few of the best.

A child psychologist and parent himself, James Garbarino delves beyond simple parenting predicaments and writes about the perplexing and even frightening dilemmas parents are confronted with in his new book, Parents Under Siege: Why You are the Solution, Not the Problem, in Your Child’s Life. Written with child advocate Claire Bedard, this book offers a sober, realistic look at the challenges of raising children in the modern world. The authors assert that the world of American parenting changed forever after the events at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, on April 20, 1999, when two students went on a shooting rampage that killed 12 of their fellow schoolmates and a teacher and then killed themselves. Garbarino recognizes that cookie-cutter strategies don’t work, but offers 10 tools to help parents become more acutely aware, more mindful, and more effective in dealing with growing children and adolescents. These tools include a periscope for Seeing the World Through the Eyes of Each Child’s Individual Temperament and a glue stick for Holding Together a Child’s World in Difficult Times. And what is a child’s world? Michael Thompson, Ph. D., and Catherine O’Neill Grace do a good job of depicting that venerable, vulnerable place in Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children. One of the most fascinating chapters is titled In the Jungle: The Power of the Group in the Lives of Children, which reveals the social hierarchies and underlying forces exerting pressure on children (and adults as well) in group situations. Without knowledge of these social forces, Thompson argues, we make the mistake of thinking that tragic events are driven solely by bad kids’ or gangs.’ He points out that human beings hunger for group identity and closeness, and that there are gangs of good kids in our schools too, driven to band together by the same needs and invisible yet powerful forces. Thompson is an ardent advocate of smaller schools and uses the last two chapters to outline what schools and parents can do to help ensure safe, nurturing environments where each child is acknowledged and affirmed on a daily basis. Interestingly, Thompson uses almost the same words to describe the values he would promote in teaching children good citizenship and good friendship empathy, responsibility, sharing, self-sacrifice, self-disclosure and faithfulness that Michele Bora, Ed. D., employs in her book, Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues that Teach Kids to Do the Right Thing. Her plan for raising good kids from ages 3 to 15 includes fostering the following list of values, each discussed in its own chapter: empathy, conscience, self-control, respect, kindness, tolerance and fairness. The slogan getting back to basics might well be dusted off and used to mean teaching the basic fundamentals of human decency instead of the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic! This theme is expanded on in Too Much of a Good Thing: Raising Children of Character in an Indulgent Age by Dan Kindlon, Ph. D. Kindlon praises baby boomers for being emotionally close to their children and for raising kids who confide in their parents more than earlier generations, but he also finds them too indulgent. We give our kids too much, he says, and we demand too little of them. Like the authors above, Kindlon believes that raising honest, charitable, compassionate, and emotionally intelligent children should be a top priority. He advocates setting reasonable limits with clear consequences for overstepping them and advises parents to choose three basic rules that they are unflinchingly consistent in enforcing. But he maintains that the foundation for stricter parenting must be built on love, time and caring, and points to research that finds families who eat dinner together and openly communicate ideas and concerns produce healthier children both physically and mentally.

Of course, even if you follow all these guidelines, like many parents, you may find that your emotionally intelligent, tolerant, respectful 15-year-old will walk out the door one day to go to soccer practice and return home having changed into some bizarre character with a wild look in his eye, strange hair and stranger clothes. If so, you’ll need to read Yes, Your Teen Is Crazy! Loving Your Kid Without Losing Your Mind, by Michael Bradley, Ed. D. Based on brain research which shows that teens do experience a temporary imbalance that causes some of their irrational behavior, this book will help you get through that maelstrom called adolescence. Still, there is no one book that can teach someone how to parent. Each child is different and brings individual challenges and joys to the task (and a few gray hairs to the head). But these books provide information, support and guidance that can help you build confidence in your parenting skills. The authors remind us of choices we can make and steps we can take to raise good, caring children (who will probably read parenting books so save them and pass them on!) and who will also become good, caring parents one day in their own right.

Linda Stankard is the mother of two she has the gray hairs to prove it and she is still honing her parenting skills after 22 years.