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Summary: Nancy Samalin does it again!
Review: Loving Without Spoiling is ideal and invaluable in addressing our issues and questions in a concise and thoughtful format. The perfect quick reference guide is brilliant and each chapter a gem.
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Summary: A parent's dream come true.
Review: Loving Without Spoiling is ideal and invaluable in addressing our issues and questions in a concise and thoughtful format. The quick reference guide is briliant and each chapter a gem.
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Summary: Loving with Consciousness
Review: LOVING WITHOUT SPOILING is written with enough humor to help the pages to turn, and tied to common place occurances and reality enough to make it immediately useful. Nancy's observations and suggestions coupled with her insight in this book - works well with children, and is easily expandable to use with other adults and even pets. Having read her book I then had the opportunity to hear her speak in person and found her and her Workshops to be phenominal tools.
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Summary: Practical, easy to understand parenting tips.
Review: Nancy Samalin has once again hit the nail on the head with simple practical advice that helps parents understand the goals they have for their children and how to achieve these goals by parenting with appropriate boundaries. The book is set up in such a way as to be easily understood and practical in nature. I recommend it highly.
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Summary: Awesome Reference Book for Both Parents and Grandparents!
Review: Nancy's latest book, Loving Without Spoiling, is a pleasure to read. The format makes it easy to find any topic quickly. The book confirms what you are doing right and offers great suggestions for those times when things aren't going quite the way you would like. I thoroughly enjoyed the humor in Nancy's writing and her willingness to share her child rearing experiences. Great book for every parent and grandparent. Awesome!
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Summary: fast, easy read, good advice!
Review: Samalin's latest book is a fast, easy read specifically about how to discipline children aged one through the teenage years. Samalin gives so many examples of the typical way children are and then good and bad examples of the various ways parents can/should react, with the consequences of doing things a certain way. The examples of "issues" were surprising to me because our family has experienced so many of these and I didn't realize that the scenarios were so commonplace! Samalin discusses communication methods, setting limits, making rules, and the like.Samalin divides parenting styles into three categories: 1) permissive (bad); 2) too strict (bad) and 3) "simply authoritative" which she recommends. What Samalin describes "simply authoritarian" is very appealing to me, and is much of what I already practice, although I have disagreed with and disliked previous authors' descriptions of the term "authoritarian" and never considered myself "authoritarian". I say this to let you know that if presently you bristle at the idea of being an authoritarian parent, be open to the possibility that how she defines it may be different than your present definition. This book is full of great advice and recommendations! Regarding parental emotions, Samalin acknowledges that it is all right to feel some negative emotions but is quick to point out that as the adults we are responsible for not choosing to act in bad ways out of anger. For example, to calm ourselves down before saying something that is negative (such as name calling or using a demeaning tone of voice) or lashing out in physical ways such as spanking or inflicting any other act that causes physical pain. As mature adults it is our responsibility to use good judgment when deciding how to react to some problem. She recommends we become aware of our negative emotions and acknowledge their presence but not let them rule our choices and our behavior. For more detail on this subject, see Somali's earlier book "Love and Anger: The Parental Dilemma". I feel that parents who live the lifestyle that Samalin labels as "too permissive" will strongly dislike this book. Also parents whose goal is to be their child's best friend, or those who hesitate to set limits or those who waffle on their rules or consequences will dislike this book. The reason is that Samalin explains why those actions actually cause undesirable behavior in children; they cause the very behavior that parents wish would not exist! This book is friendly toward mothers employed outside the home and there are sections about reducing motherhood guilt due to separation. This book does not in any way get into the debate of whether a mother should be at home with her children or go to work. In case you are wondering about Somali's stance of punishment methods, she is against spanking and spends a good number of pages discouraging it (tip 49). She never once mentions the use of the ever-popular "time-outs" so, sadly, we miss her opinion on this entirely. Samalin recommends using consequences-warning of their impending use and if the offense occurs, to follow through on it and administer an appropriate consequence such as loss of playing with a certain toy, etc. Samalin endorses prevention of parental burnout as essential to good parenting and I agree wholeheartedly. She gives only one remedy, however, separation. I was disappointed that other options are not discussed at all for the parents of children who are not yet ready to separate. Samalin encourages finding and using a good babysitter and then separating. Unfortunately here again is an area where I feel Samalin misses the mark by not stating that the developmental stage of the child and the child's unique personality and temperament should be taken into consideration before separations, especially for weekends or a longer vacation, are made. I personally feel that first and foremost whether the child can handle the separation should be the deciding factor. For a great book about motherhood stress and burnout see Dr. Kendall-Tackett's book "The Hidden Feelings of Motherhood". All in all I found this book helpful and interesting despite some advice that I disagreed with, however I realize that no one book will be an exact copy of my own opinions unless I am the author! I honestly feel that to cram parenting advice for the broad range of ages one through teenage years is a daunting if not impossible task. I encourage parents of toddlers to read "The Discipline Book" by William Sears M.D.-I found this most helpful for the first year and the toddler years (although the author says it is for birth through age 10). This book by Dr. Sears really stresses the developmental stages of babies and young children and what we are to expect from certain ages and then how best to avoid problems. With that said, I do love Samalin's book for use from age 3 and up.
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Summary: The best quick reference book on parenting
Review: This book has become my most often referenced parenting book. Its format is ideal for 3-minute refresher courses on strategies. Today, I just re-read "End Morning Madness" and "Jump-Start the Dawdler" to help get ready for the first week of school. When you feel like there must be a better way to deal with a situation, but you are too stressed, distracted, or busy to calmly think it through, give yourself a time-out and run for this book.
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Summary: The best quick reference book on parenting
Review: This book has become my most often referenced parenting book. Its format is ideal for 3-minute refresher courses on strategies. Today, I just re-read "End Morning Madness" and "Jump-Start the Dawdler" to help get ready for the first week of school. When you feel like there must be a better way to deal with a situation, but you are too stressed, distracted, or busy to calmly think it through, give yourself a time-out and run for this book.
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Summary: A great resource for parents!
Review: This book has lots of helpful, effective tips for parents. Especially helpful to those parents who use the gentle discipline approach.
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Summary: A wonderful book for parents
Review: This is the book I would like to hand every new parent as they begin their journey. Nancy Samalin has provided a map for parents to help them navigate the bumps and blind curves on the road to raising happy, responsible children. Experienced parents will recognize and appreciate the jewels of wisdom in this practical and wise guide to parenting. Maureen Murphy, Director of The Children's School, recognized by the Ford Foundation as a leader and innovator in early childhood education.
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