Revitalizing UU Women's Groups

Resources for UU Parents

Berends, Polly. Whole Parent/Whole Child. New York: Harper Perrenial, 1997. Practical suggestions for new parents (or teachers) with a focus on spirituality and moral development. Offers list of things to bring on outings and good children’s books with descriptions.

Bly, Mary; Graham, Beth; and Reinauer, Judith. Side by Side. Boston: UUA, 1999. Seven-session curriculum provides forum for mothers and daughters to examine their relationship through activities and discussion that will lead to better communication during the teenage years.

Crary, Elizabeth. Without Spanking or Spoiling: a practical approach to toddler and preschool guidance. Parenting Press, 1993. Offers steps in problem solving and shaping children’s behavior.

Dodson, Shirleen and Barker, Teresa. Mother Daughter Book Club: How Ten Busy Mothers and Daughters Came Together to Talk, Laugh, and Learn Through their Love of Reading. Includes how to start a club of your own and reading lists from popular authors.

Doherty, Bill, Ph.D. Take Back Your Kids. Notre Dame, Indiana: Sorin Books, 2000. Confidence building book for parents; protecting kids from consumer culture.

Doherty, Bill, Ph.D. The Intentional Family. New York: Avon Books, 1997. Written by a UU, this practical guide has ideas for everyday rituals, avoiding conflicts, and more.

Dyer, Traci, ed. Mother Voices, Real Women Write About Growing Into Motherhood. Naperville, Illinois: Sourcebooks, Inc., 1999. Series of vignettes, some humorous, about small moments and grand occasions mothering. Especially suited for parents of preschoolers.

Friday, Nancy. My Mother, My Self, The Daughter’s Search for Identity. New York: Delta, 1977. Old standby; examines the first and most lasting relationship in every woman’s life, and discusses how women can change the patterns they wish to in order to become vital, independent, and fully sexual.

Gilligan, Carol. In a Different Voice, Psychological Theory and Women’s Development. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993. Harvard professor reframes typically female qualities regarded as women’s weaknesses and illuminates them as strengths. Has been reprinted thirty-two times!

Gray, Elizabeth Dodson, ed. Sacred Dimension of Woman’s Experience. Wellesley, Massachusetts: Roundtable Press, 1988. Finding the sacred in the ordinary—even housework! Includes essays about women’s traditional activities. Originated in a lecture series at Harvard Divinity School and includes songs and poems.

Hansen, Maren Tonder. Mother Mysteries. Boston: Shambhala, 1997. This Unitarian minister weaves her personal story and ordinary details of mothering/homemaking with the spiritual.

Hewlett, Sylvia Ann and West, Cornel. The War Against Parents. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1998. Addresses not only how to help American children, but also their parents who face daunting obstacles presented in the workplace, popular culture, and laws.

Mauldin, Jane Ellen. Glory, Hallelujah: Now Please Pick Up Your Socks. Boston: Beacon Press, 1998. With humor, Mauldin reminds us that holiness is often found in unexpected places.

Mothers, Classics from the Modern Library. New York: Random House, 1998. Offers classic poems and stories such as “Marmee’s Lessons,” an excerpt from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. Nice resource for a parents’ group.

Odean, Kathleen. Great Books for Girls: More than 600 Books to Inspire Today’s Girls and Tomorrow’s Women. Maryland: Ballantine Books, 1998.

Odean, Kathleen. Great Books for Boys: More than 600 Books for Boys 2–14. Maryland: Ballantine Books, 1998.

Pipher, Mary. Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls. New York: Putnam, 1994. UU offers this study (and strategies for coping) of why adolescent girls fall victim to depression, low self-esteem and pursuit of thinness, glamour and sexuality.

Pollack, William S. Real Boys. New York: Random House, 1998. Looks behind the mask of masculinity to find the power of mothers and to suggest ways of supporting sons while allowing them to become independent men. Based on Pollack’s clinical experiences and research at Harvard Medical School.

Sewell, Marilyn, ed. Claiming the Spirit Within: a Sourcebook of Women’s Poetry. Boston: Beacon Press, 1996.

Sewell, Marilyn, ed. Cries of the Spirit. Boston: Beacon Press, 1991. A celebration of women’s spirituality through poetry.

Shapiro, Patricia Gottlieb. My Turn, Women’s Search for Self after the Children Leave. Challenges the idea of “empty-nest syndrome” and frames the time following children leaving home as a time for a woman to come into her own.

UUA. The Parent Trilogy: Three Programs for UU Parents and Other Adults. Boston: UUA, 1998. Offers guidelines and handouts for sessions on theology and child-raising. Guides parents and kids as they define their beliefs about god, prayer, and other religious issues as well as social justice. Also offers five sessions geared for adults who want to explore issues related to war, sex roles, and socialized behavior. Includes guidebook, handouts, and slides.