When I was growing up in Florida, hearing the news of a space shuttle launch and being able to see and experience one, even from afar, was always pretty special. Such great care and attention to detail went into every launch. If there were anything amiss, any detail that could put the crew or mission in jeopardy, the launch would be delayed or aborted altogether.

This past weekend I orchestrated a launch of my own, for my book  Ten Simple Tools for No Regrets Parenting. This launch brought its own intense preparation and attention to detail.  I hosted the party at Trophy Cupcakes in Wallingford where friends and readers gathered to mingle, talk parenting and eat cupcakes. Following the event I had a chance to reflect on all that went into both the book becoming a reality.

I went all the way back to the beginning of my own parenting journey. As a new mom, I found a lot of good information in many different forms of media including articles, blogs, websites, and books. But for all the wonderful snippets of information I was finding, it was extremely frustrating not to be able to have it handy when I needed it and I realized what I really wanted was to have the information in a consolidated, easy-to-read format.

What I found in sorting through the many books that crowd the parenting market,  was that most are slanted towards developmental milestones or focusing on specific issues (behavioral, eating, etc.).  I wanted information on strategies for how to parent and raise my children in a way I’d feel good about.

I reflected on what I had experienced in my own childhood and thought about the things I wanted to pass on to my children and the things I didn’t. I knew I didn’t have the tools to ensure I wouldn’t pass on the negative things to my children unless I understood where they stemmed from, what beliefs I held about myself and how to deal with them in a healthy way. This required me to seek professional help including that of a therapist, nutritionist and life coach. I wanted to share with other parents what I had learned by going through this process.

Much of the advice I had found available in books and articles also seemed very one-sided. There seemed to be the implication that if I didn’t subscribe to the advice being shared, than I was obviously not a good parent. I didn’t see what good it would do to put more material out in the market that would make parents second-guess themselves. I think there are a million different ways to have a successful parenting journey. What parents really need is to be aware that it’s a journey and have some inner self-reflection about what their part in that is and to be proactive about it. I wanted to provide parents with tools that would allow them to feel like they are more in control of what their parenting journey will be and what it will and won’t include.

As a result, my book was born. Much like a space shuttle launch, it took time and great care to create it. While there weren’t any obvious dangers around the launch, it was important to me that the book was thought-through, corroborated by other parents, complete and ready to take off.  I don’t know if I was prepared for what I felt at the launch party yesterday, I didn’t really know what to expect going into it. But what I saw and experienced felt pretty special.