Rating: 
Summary: Good common sense tips
Review: Most "parenting" books have common goals (e.g how to raise a happy, moral, responsible, self-confident child that achieves his/her full potential). The books just disagree about the best way to achieve these goals. In this book, however, I found myself disagreeing with the stated goals of good parenting. The Friels describe several examples of parenting "failures" that I would consider successes. For example, if your 24 year old daughter says her mother is her best friend, she's a failure (and you've failed as a parent). If your child graduates from college and turns down a good job across the country in favor of a lesser paying job closer to home, you've raised a dependent, clingy person who failed to separate from family appropriately. I guess one person's pathological intertwined relationship is someone else's good close family tie! Nevertheless, the book contains lots of good old-fashioned common-sense advice about raising children and I enjoyed the book thoroughly.
Rating:
Summary: Good common sense tips
Review: Most "parenting" books have common goals (e.g how to raise a happy, moral, responsible, self-confident child that achieves his/her full potential). The books just disagree about the best way to achieve these goals. In this book, however, I found myself disagreeing with the stated goals of good parenting. The Friels describe several examples of parenting "failures" that I would consider successes. For example, if your 24 year old daughter says her mother is her best friend, she's a failure (and you've failed as a parent). If your child graduates from college and turns down a good job across the country in favor of a lesser paying job closer to home, you've raised a dependent, clingy person who failed to separate from family appropriately. I guess one person's pathological intertwined relationship is someone else's good close family tie! Nevertheless, the book contains lots of good old-fashioned common-sense advice about raising children and I enjoyed the book thoroughly.
Rating: 
Summary: Education dilemma between parents solved!
Review: My husband and I had very different point of views concerning education... We agreed on how to raise our son, but he felt a lot of guilt in disciplining is 9 year old who never had any rules, structure, and boundaries in her young life. This book helped him understand that discipline equals love and explained the ABC of parenting very well by showing the direct effect of behaviors through simple examples. We all fall into pitfalls trying to do our best, but it can be hard sometimes and this book reinforce our conviction that we are our children's guides and we must prepare them to live in society.
Rating: 
Summary: Great advice and easy book to read & understand
Review: Part 1: Get Ready
Chapter 1: The Seven Worst Things Parents Do
Chapter 2: The Rules of the GamePart 2: The Seven
Chapter 3: Baby Your Child
Chapter 4: Put Your Marriage Last
Chapter 5 Push Your Child into Too Many Activities
Chapter 6: Ignore Your Emotional or Spiritual Life
Chapter 7: Be Your Child's Best Friend
Chapter 8: Fail to Give Your Child Structure
Chapter 9: Expect Your Child to Fulfil Your Dreams Part III: Go For It
Chapter 10: If Rats Can Do It, So Can You
Chapter 11: The Best Things About Parents Who Choose to Grow: A Typical Success Story
Chapter 12: Some Final Parenting Thoughts In this book, I agreed much of what the authors wrote about how to avoid the 7 mistakes. There was a few tips of advice that I disagreed with such as putting your child to bed at the same time everynight with NO exceptions such as watching fireworks.
Rating:
Summary: Great Parenting Book
Review: The authors explains the 7 worst things parents do:
Baby Your Child
Put Your Marriage Last
Push Your Child INto Too Many Activities
Ignore Your Emotional or Spiritual Life
Be Your Child's Best Friend
Fail to give Your Child Structure
Expect Your Child to Fulfil Your Dreams I rated it 4 stars because I felt that the topics weren't throughly discussed on how we can avoid falling in one of the 7 traps.
Rating:
Summary: Can I borrow a feeling?
Review: The book is a strange amalgam of sensible parenting advice, delivered from the minds of two people awash in liberal insanity. For example the authors are John C. Friel Ph.D. and Linda D. Friel M.A. It is really helpful to know their middle initials. Inspires confidence - kind of like an extra degree. Well if this Joe Q. Blow were to hunker down on the Friels' therapy sofa, lets just say he'd have a few problems. For starters, the Friels start the therapy by doing a "feelings check" You are presented with a list of "healthy human feelings" : anger, sadness, joy, shame, hurt, loneliness. Then you are supposed to "ground" yourself in the "moment" by introspecting for them and reporting which of these emotions you are currently feeling. Strangely the only positive "healthy emotion" on this list is "joy" which, as far as I can tell, is not a sustainable adult emotion, any more than glee is a sustainable adult emotion. The list may as well have been Angst, Rage, Sullenness, Resentment, Hatred, Delight. "Where are you on this list, Joe?" "...Gee... I dunno... I don't even know what you mean by 'joy'..."
"Tsk, tsk. This is getting more and more common. So many emotionally shut down people outta touch with their feelings alla time. This poor soul don't even know what joy is."
Rating:
Summary: Can I borrow a feeling?
Review: The book is a strange amalgam of sensible parenting advice, delivered from the minds of two people awash in liberal insanity. For example the authors are John C. Friel Ph.D. and Linda D. Friel M.A. It is really helpful to know their middle initials. Inspires confidence - kind of like an extra degree. Well if this Joe Q. Blow were to hunker down on the Friels' therapy sofa, lets just say he'd have a few problems. For starters, the Friels start the therapy by doing a "feelings check" You are presented with a list of "healthy human feelings" : anger, sadness, joy, shame, hurt, loneliness. Then you are supposed to "ground" yourself in the "moment" by introspecting for them and reporting which of these emotions you are currently feeling. Strangely the only positive "healthy emotion" on this list is "joy" which, as far as I can tell, is not a sustainable adult emotion, any more than glee is a sustainable adult emotion. The list may as well have been Angst, Rage, Sullenness, Resentment, Hatred, Delight. "Where are you on this list, Joe?" "...Gee... I dunno... I don't even know what you mean by 'joy'..."
"Tsk, tsk. This is getting more and more common. So many emotionally shut down people outta touch with their feelings alla time. This poor soul don't even know what joy is."
Rating:
Summary: A helpful guide
Review: This book showed me various ways that I am being successful with my child rearing as well as some areas that I could work on without making me feel like a failure. The greatest message I got from this text was that I could "fix" anything that I need to--if I just identify that problems that already exist. The "Seven" were logical and showed thought about the issues. Of course, they did not all apply to my situation; however as with any text, if you read the areas that sound familiar, you may find there is something you can learn. I did not like the title--the seven worst--but they are not accusatory or guilt-ridden in their presentation. Overall a good read that I may look at again as my children grow.
Rating:
Summary: A helpful guide
Review: This book showed me various ways that I am being successful with my child rearing as well as some areas that I could work on without making me feel like a failure. The greatest message I got from this text was that I could "fix" anything that I need to--if I just identify that problems that already exist. The "Seven" were logical and showed thought about the issues. Of course, they did not all apply to my situation; however as with any text, if you read the areas that sound familiar, you may find there is something you can learn. I did not like the title--the seven worst--but they are not accusatory or guilt-ridden in their presentation. Overall a good read that I may look at again as my children grow.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This is the most timely parenting book on the market. The Friels have captured THE essential mistakes made by contemporary parents. They provide clear solutions that are based not only on their clinical experience as psychologists and personal experience as parents, but also on solid psychological research. I thought that the chapters on "Putting Your Marriage Last," "Babying Your Child," and "Ignoring Your Emotional And Spiritual Life" were especially important given the direction the American family has taken over the past 15 years. I enthusiastically recommend this book!
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