The Pocket Parent

Rating:
Summary: Pocket Parent Helps a Grandma
Review: Pocket Parent offers a wide variety of specific tips to try in different situations in order to get more cooperation from my 4-year-old granddaughter. I also have used some of the communication strategies on Grandpa and even he seems to cooperate more--the first time I ask! I realize that when I am short of time and patience, it's easy to resort to the things that don't often work like yelling, nagging, threatening and criticizing. This quick read reference book clearly gives hundreds of wise alternatives with great "word for word" examples to follow. Although some of the tips take practice, many suggestions have already worked for me. I also appreciate the humor...we all need to know we are not the only ones that ocassionally feel we are just about at our wits' end! Raising children today is definitely not easy, but it's the most wonderful job in the world...especially the second time around with the grandchildren!

The Pocket Parent is a fun, easy to use, "grandparent-friendly" guide that I highly recommend to my generation as well.

Also recommended: BETWEEN PARENT AND CHILD, by Haim Ginott..."the guru" of my generation...which is the philosophy The Pocket Parent is based on. I noticed that Alice Ginott recently helped revise her late husband's highly respected parenting classic.

Rating:
Summary: The BEST A-Z Guide for Parents with 2's, 3's, 4's and 5's
Review: The Pocket Parent is an amazing collection of upbeat sanity saving suggestions on every possible challenging behavior you can think of...Bad words, Bedtime, Biting, Chores,the Gimmes, Sibling Fights, Lying, Interrupting, Morning Crazies, Potty Training, Whining and more. I learned that inorder to change my child's behavior, I will probably need to change my approach first.

This book with almost 400 pages is easily portable (4" X 8") and is loaded with compassion and humor from the two authors who "have been there, done that" raising their own children right along with us. There is nothing in this book that you don't already know...it's just that we forget the communication options we can choose to use instead of automatically reacting by yelling, bribing, nagging, threatening, criticizing and punishing in the heat of the moment. I keep saying to myself as I read this book..."That makes so much sense...why didn't I think of that?" But it's never to late to improve... and things are definitely better at our house.

My favorite part of the layout of the quick read bullets of information are the short true to life anecdotes. It's as if the authors had been looking in my window as my 3 and 4 year olds push my buttons!

I truly feel comforted that I am not alone in the trials and tribulations of raising a toddler/preshooler.

I especially appreciate the annotated list of 120 books to read with 2-5 year olds relating to each behavior topic. That list is worth the price of the book all by itself. My child loves to hear stories about other children that misbehave.

This book is a reasonably priced gold mine. Keep in handy either in the bathroom or on your bedside table for quick reference in your very few minutes of peace.

If you have a 2, 3, 4, or 5 year old...this book will give you ideas to try as well as make you laugh on almost every page.

Pocket Parent does not have a single "Should" or "Don't" in the entire book. I had the pleasure of hearing the author who recently visited our Connecticut school district say, "The true experts of any child are his own parents. No one knows a child better than his mom or dad. So it is the job of each parent to take these ideas and filter them through their own personality and parenting style to see what strategies make good sense for their family. And if one works once...be grateful! It may not work again!"

There are hundreds of tips, insights and techniques to try in this book. My daycare bought a copy for all 75 family at the center.

Thank you to the authors for a practical, uplifting compassionate guide that I refer to again and again. The support and ideas I have found within these pages help to refill my "love tank" so that I can be in a better emotional place to respond more sanely to the challenges my children throw my way.

Rating:
Summary: Just the toddler reference guide I had been looking for!
Review: This A-Z quick read guidebook, focusing solely on toddler/preschooler behavior, is a unique collection of doable toddler strategies. THE POCKET PARENT gives moms and dads hundreds of choices to choose from as to how to handle whining, biting, hitting, tantrums, disrespectful attitude, meal and bedtime refusals, bad words, morning crazies, potty training, sibling fights, parent deafness, interrupting, not picking up the toys and much more. I love the fact that the subjects are in an A-Z arrangement and that each chapter stands alone... Actually each bulleted suggestion stands alone. You do not have to read the entire book to get a tip and some humor to make your day a little less stressful. The short anecdotes are fun to read and very familiar! They help me know for sure that I am not alone in the challanges I face daily.

Although there are a variety of A-Z behavior compendiums for sale, this is the ONLY one that has 400 pages written just for this age group on every annoying behavior you can think of.

Detailed, upbeat, comforting and loaded with suggestions that really work...at least once!


Sandy, mother of a 2, 4 and 6 year old
Editor Parent News
INDIANA

Rating:
Summary: A to Z Sanity Bible with Wit and Wisdom
Review: This book is absolutely incredible!!

I have gotten so-o-o-o-o many ideas that work on my 3,4 and 7 year old. Just the simple suggestion of having objects "do the talking" instead of me nagging and threatening has gotten incredibly more cooperation in the nighttime bathroom routine as well as in the morning with my 4 year old. To my pleasant surprise, the silly talking toothbrush has helped get the job done the entire week.

The suggestion to say "No" by calmly saying "Yes, you can do that right after..." has really helped keep me in charge as a parent without screaming "No!" all the time to my sometimes "parent-deaf" 3 year old.

The best thing about this guide is that you don't have to read it cover to cover--Just flip to the behavior that is challenging you and get an idea to try within one minute. All the hundreds of suggestions are very brief. And the little stories are hysterically familiar....it is as if the authors had spied in my window and wrote specifically about my 3 son's misbehavior!

Everything that drives you crazy is covered...whining, picky eaters, sibling fights, tantrums, lying, biting, potty training, endless interrupting, separation anxiety, not picking up the toys, hints to keep child in bed, and many others.

If you are considering buying one book for trouble shooting common annoying behaviors of 2- to 6-year-olds (although many techniques work on all ages)...I recommend THE POCKET PARENT... I love the sense of humor throughout the book. And,I really liked all the anecdotes referring to dads and their kids because many parenting books only give examples with mommies. Many thanks to the sensative mothers who purposely wrote this book for Dads as well as Moms.

For a great video with specific strategies for busy parents who have no time to read parenting books I also highly recommend 1,2,3 MAGIC--Managing Difficult Behavior in Children 2-12.

Wishing you less frustration and more cooperation from your kids...

--A much calmer, more competent dad

Rating:
Summary: A-Z Sanity Exclusively for Parents of 2- to 5-year-olds
Review: This is a great book that has really helped me get more cooperation from my 4-year-old...the FIRST time I ask. I totally appreciated the author's humor! I love the size of the book and quick read format ...perfect to take with, always ready to give me a tip to try and at the same time a reassuring 'verbal hug' that no parent or child is perfect. Great gift for any mother or father of a 2- to 5-year-old that can use some sanity!! Just look it up...ANGER, BEDTIME, BITING, BAD WORDS, GIMMES, I HATE YOU'S, INTERRUPTING, LYING, MORNING CRAZIES, SIBLING RIVALRY, TANTRUMS, AND MUCH MORE!

Rating:
Summary: a whimsical stocking stuffer
Review: True to the title the Pocket Parent does fit exactly there. However, I'm not sure how many parents will carry it around for those "quick fix" moments (a creative packaging concept?). The book does have some helpful hints for the little ones which we all need as parents from time to time. The tips, however, seem to be more of a witty compilation of tried and true tricks from a collective group of parents. This same group seemed to throw in the supportive comments to one another for good measure. All in all it seems to be on par with most of what's out there. As a parent, I was looking for more in-depth ideas from professionals and ways to develop my child for the long term - not just in the grocery store. Also, I could do without the peer-parent coddling of my worth as I try to manage the children.

Rating:
Summary: A Saving Grace for This Mom of Two!
Review: With my daughter in her oh so terrible two's and a new baby boy to care for, I needed something that could give me quick, easy insight on how to handle my daughter and all her little issues. The Pocket Parent gives me some of the best techniques and coping mechanisms from parents who actually have tested and employed them. I recommend this book to just about everyone-Moms, Dads, Grandparents, etc. Thank you Caroline! How about a video series next?