The Last Parenting Book You'll Ever Read - by Meagan Francis (Paperback)

About the Book

"From the co-host of the hit podcast The Mom Hour, THE LAST PARENTING BOOK YOU'LL EVER READ is your guide to the last stage of "active" parenting as your teenagers prepare to step into the world and you prepare to step back into yourself, for moms getting ready to launch their almost-adult kids and enter the empty nesting stage of their lives"--

Book Synopsis

Your guide to celebrating and loving your kids more than ever in the weeks, months, and years before they begin their adult lives

We read the parenting books. We cheer from the sidelines. We grow accustomed to the joys and pains of raising toddlers, kids, tweens, and teens. And then, before we know it, it's our kids' last first day of school, the last time we'll watch them take the field, or the last night they sleep at home before heading off to their next adventures. A season of our lives as moms is ending, and we may be mourning its passing. And yet, while our kids still need us--in some ways, more than ever--this stage can also be an opportunity for personal transformation.

Author Meagan Francis understands the mixed feelings that come along with this stage. As a mom of five kids ages teen to young adult, she's been blogging and podcasting about motherhood for more than twenty-five years while going from five kids under her roof to just one. In The Last Parenting Book You'll Ever Read, Francis will take you by the hand and lead you through the final stage of "active" parenting, as your teenagers prepare to step into the world...and you explore what it means to step back into yourself.

The Last Parenting Book You'll Ever Read is about coming to terms with the many endings that moms of teenagers experience--but more than that, it's about all the new beginnings on the horizon, and how moms can still hold their families close while letting them go. With compassion for the big feelings that accompany big transitions, Francis helps readers harness some of the mothering energy they've been directing toward their children and redirect it back toward nurturing themselves.

Review Quotes

"Is there anything better than hearing from an honest and relatable mom who has been there, done that? Packed with hard-won wisdom, charming anecdotes, and reflective insights, The Last Parenting Book You'll Ever Read offers much-needed light at the end of the parenting-young-kids tunnel. Thank you, Meagan, for taking us under your wing." -- Ashlee Gadd, founder of Coffee + Crumbs and author of Create Anyway: the Joy of Pursuing Creativity in the Margins of Motherhood

"Meagan Francis has long been one of my go-tos for smart parenting advice. Hers is the voice I want in my ear as my family--and I--move into this new phase, and I promise you will too." -- KJ Dell'Antonia, New York Times bestselling author

"If I could, I'd press a copy of this compassionate, calming--and very funny!--guide into the hands of every mother I know facing the empty nest. I wish I'd had a copy a few years ago myself." -- Mary Laura Philpott, author of Bomb Shelter: Love, Time, and Other Explosives

"For anyone who went into parenting with the vague idea that the aim was to successfully get the kids to their 18th birthdays (or college graduation) in one piece and then--ta-da!--you'd be at the finish line, this book feels like a wise, compassionate, and necessary reality check. In sharing her own experience parenting teens and launching young adults, Francis gives a full picture of this bumpy and beautiful phase of motherhood--and midlife--while inviting us to reclaim parts of ourselves that took a backseat during the more intensive early years. I loved this book, and the reminder that my role as mom is shifting, not ending; that it's important and imperfect; and that I can take small steps now to create a rich, fulfilling life when, someday, the nest is truly empty." -- Sarah Powers, co-host of The Mom Hour podcast

"As parents, how do we evolve from the 'arms full' to the 'hands free' stage of family life, as our children leave the nest? With cutting-edge research, practical suggestions, humor, and many stories from her own experience as the mother of a big family, writer Meagan Francis provides an invaluable resource for anyone making this bittersweet transition--with both its pitfalls and its possibilities." -- Gretchen Rubin, bestselling author of The Happiness Project and host of the Happier with Gretchen Rubin podcast