kids are worth it! Revised Edition : Giving Your Child the Gift of Inner Discipline

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Summary: The best parenting book I've read!
Review: If you're looking for more real life examples and less psycho-babble this is the book for you. It breaks many situations down into 3 different family types. One too strict, one too relaxed, and one just right. This helps me find the right balance for me. If you want to be a better parent read this book. It's never too early or late

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Summary: exhausting but worth it
Review: It takes much longer to follow the advice given in this book than it does to slap a child - but I think the results are excellent. My 4 and 3 year olds hit each other significantly less now that I have told them that the rule in this house is "we don't hit". But boy, it can be seriously exhausting with 2 very stubborn children to carry out her theories. We're carrying on with it because I seriously believe she is right and the children learn to think for themselves - go for it, take the plunge too and learn how to treat your children how you were probably not treated yourself! I have already recommended this book to two friends and, after hearing the tape, they have been converted!

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Summary: How to fail as a parent
Review: Ms. Coloroso's new age ideas about discipline provide a sure way to lose your children to the miriad of liberal influences promoted by mass media and public education. What parents need is to return to the fundamentals of strong family, respect, and traditional discipline. Coloroso's book leads you in the exact opposite direction of this ideal. Typically American.

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Summary: Good points at times, but poor results...
Review: My twin sister shared this book with me four years ago after meeting Ms. Coloroso at a conference. She, my sister, felt that her life had been transformed by their conversation and by the content of the book. I read it and found that there were some good points regarding conflict resolution and on managing my own responses as we all strive to live harmoniously together. For the most part, I found the rest of the book to be quite forgettable. My approach to parenting is perhaps closer to the brickwall example, although I have only spanked one of my children more than once. Those VERY rare occasions made a strong impression Meanwhile my sister keeps two copies of this book at hand and referrs to it often. Her three children, whom I love dearly, are peevish, demanding, untrustworthy and unfriendly. Her oldest daughter is six years old and is given to screaming tantrums on the floors of restaurants and gorcery stores. I have five children, and have never experienced with my children what they endure on a daily basis. I have often wished I could save them from the influence of this book. And my sisters husband asks us for advice on child rearing constantly

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Summary: One of the Best Parenting Discipline Books Ever!
Review: Reading this book has been like a breathe of fresh air! Ms. Coloroso actually describes the pain, the struggles, the challenges, and the embarrassments one as an actual, REAL parent can live and experience! She is not just a so-called EXPERT talking from so-called RESEARCH or case-work. She is a mother herself and provides helpful information through her in-depth examples with valid solutions. What she writes attests to the fact that she has obviously witnessed and has lived with children who are difficult to deal with. She provides calming solutions, which I find come in especially handy when I as a mother am having one of those days that I am feeling totally insane! I have had this book for 5 years and have never bothered to open it up until now...Parent-to-parent (I am the mother of two sons) this book is worth the financial investment!

Rating:
Summary: Author is authentic and knows how it really feels!
Review: Reading this book has been like a breathe of fresh air! Ms. Coloroso actually describes the pain, the struggles, the challenges, and the embarrassments one as an actual, REAL parent can live and experience! She is not just a so-called EXPERT talking from so-called RESEARCH or case-work. She is a mother herself and provides helpful information through her in-depth examples with valid solutions. What she writes attests to the fact that she has obviously witnessed and has lived with children who are difficult to deal with. She provides calming solutions, which I find come in especially handy when I as a mother am having one of those days that I am feeling totally insane! I have had this book for 5 years and have never bothered to open it up until now...Parent-to-parent (I am the mother of two sons) this book is worth the financial investment!

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Summary: Witty, funny, and easy to read
Review: The author suggests that by being aware of which family type (of three basic family types) you grew in, you can make your new family a better place for all: parents and children. The author suggests a discipline practice that rather than suppresses children's individuality, supports it. Also, the author offers numerous real-time solutions for everyday family conflicts. It is writen with humor, and I could not put the book down until I finished reading it. A must for every parent!

Rating:
Summary: mediocre
Review: The family dynamics classifications are somewhat reasonable in that they will get people to think about the environment they are providing for their children. However, this book neglects to talk about how to handle the willfully defiant child, as if all children are born inherently good, selfless, rational, and with a sense of ethics. It also fails to recognize the various mental development stages that children go through such as concrete thinking. It incorrectly represents and then belittles James Dobson's stance that spanking can be effectively used on rare occasions as a method of discipline for 2-5 yr olds exhibiting willfully defiant behavior. There are many other books on child development and building childrens' self-esteem that I think are more credible.

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Summary: This is a book no parent should be without!
Review: This book changed my life as a parent. The most important thing it taught me is how to stay calm, and not escalate with my children. I also learned how to teach my children to become problem solvers. My 8 year old son complimented me after I started using these techniques! I use to yell and carry on now I never raise my voice and our dignity, both theirs and mine, are left in tact! Anyone working with kids needs the solid advice this book has to give.

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Summary: A New Age Soft Brained Lazy Parenting Affirmation
Review: This book is so vague, lazy, misguided and flat out wrong that it makes me sick. Feel good platitudes about lazy parenting reinforce the notion that kids are NOT worth it according to Ms. Coloroso. How about the repeated notion that parents should not treat their kids in a way that they would not like to be treated. I'm 30. My son is 3. Aside from failing to distinguish the parent from the child, why are we to treat children as peers? I never had the ignorance or arrogance to question a less than ideal grade with one of my college professors on the grounds that "would you like it if I failed you?" The real danger with any New Age idea is that very true and obvious points are sprinkled with absurdities. For example, we need to "give our kids a safe, secure, nurturing environment" - No kidding - compared with "Our goal as parents is to give life to our children's learning - to instruct, to teach, to help them develop self-discipline - an ordering of the self from the inside" - This is humanist, amoral, and completely absolves the parent of any future responsibility for the failure of the child to deal effectively with the real world. Also, what is "self-discipline"? It's real close to actual discipline - But it's not. It's write your own rules. On other topics, self esteem is acquired through overcoming obstacles Ms. Coloroso, not through parents telling you how wonderful you are day in and day out. Competition is bad? Families should not have strict rules or a hierarchy of control? Bedtime is 8:30. I say so. No vote. No appeal. I guess this flake would say I am a terrible parent. This book is an effort to get parents to allow their children to self-parent - treat your children as small unemployed adults and be their friend. This is an obviously unscientific and unresearched book that is comprised of feel good banalities that will offend any serious parent who thinks themselves to be responsible for raising a thinking, responsible and polite child. Aside from its content void and adverb/adjective abuse, this book is wrong on many levels. Thank you