For the next few months, I am going to do a brief recap of some powerful parenting (with educational topics) books I’ve read.
Sometimes reading quotes from books helps shift my mindset on certain topics and gets me focused on what’s really important when raising children.
Book Title: Have a New Kid By Friday
Author:
Book Synopsis:
Anyone who has dealt with a strong-willed child knows that it is no easy task to turn bad behavior around. But the popularity of TV programs like Supernanny and Nanny 911 shows that parents have had it up to here and are ready to try anything to get their children to behave. Bestselling author and psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman is here to help.
Have a New Kid by Friday shows parents how to reverse negative behavior in their children–fast! With his signature wit and encouragement, Dr. Leman offers hope and real, practical, doable strategies for regaining control and becoming the parents they always wanted to be. Focusing on changing a child’s attitude, behavior, and character, it contains chapters for each day of the week and a special section with advice on everything from rolling eyes to sibling rivalry to talking back to punching walls and much, much more. This large section of more than 100 specific topics is indexed, allowing parents to flip immediately to any areas of concern for witty, straightforward, and gutsy plans of action.
My Review:
The author of this book, Dr. Kevin Leman is all about teaching children to be problem solvers and raising responsible children. I agree with most of his advice in this book, we can do more for our children now by doing less in a way which includes allowing them to try, fail and try again!
Top Ten Quotes:
- “Your child needs not only your attention but also a relationship with you.”
- “Reality discipline steers a course between an authoritarian style and a permissive style, giving kids some choices but also holding them accountable.”
- “What happens to children of critical-eyed parents is that they begin avoiding criticism at all costs because it becomes too threatening. Rather than finish a task, they’ll stop an inch short and start something else.”
- “Lasting self-esteem comes when kids learn that they belong—to a family, to a community, to a group of friends. When they realize, “I can contribute, I can give something back,” that’s when they see how important they are.”
- “When you don’t come on strong, they’re more likely to listen to what you have to say.”
- “Stress the positive. Make compliments and encouragement a natural part of your conversation. As you interact with your kids, stressing the positive is just as easy as stressing the negative, and the results are so much better.”
- “Action-oriented discipline is based on the reality that there are times when you have to pull the rug out and let the little buzzards tumble. I mean disciplining your children in such a way that he/she accepts responsibility and learns accountability for his actions.”
- “The goal of parenting is not to create happy kids; rather, it’s to create responsible kids.”
- “If you want to use Reality Discipline effectively, you need to know what’s important to your child — what really moves him in his reality. Your child may value money, sports, a daily cookie break, staying up late or spending time with friends. Parents who know how to use Reality Discipline make creative connections between bad behavior and discipline through action rather than through warnings, nagging or threats.”
- “Reality Discipline is not unkind. Instead, when it’s motivated by love to help your child mature into a responsible adult, it’s a very good gift.”
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