How to Really Love Your Child

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Summary: Thank you, Dr. Campbell!
Review: An absolutely wonderful book! Dr. Campbell writes from a Christian perspective on how to REALLY love your child. He asserts that everyday a child is asking his parents, "Do you love me?", not only through his words, but more importantly through his behavior. It's our answer to this question that will have the biggest impact on his/her life. Loving UNCONDITIONALLY is the answer--this means loving your child no matter what and even when at times you detest his/her behavior.

Specifically, Dr. Campbell teaches that in order to love unconditionally, you must do four things: Show love through eye contact, show love through physical attention, show love through focused attention, and finally show love through discipline. He explains how important each of these things are and how big a mistake it is to only focus on discipline. I especially liked his discussion on what he thinks Proverbs 13:24 really means regarding "Not sparing the rod". "The shepherd's rod referred to in Scripture was used almost exclusively for guiding the sheep, not beating them." In other words, we need to guide and train our children, not beat them to instill obedience.

Can't recommend this book highly enough. It's a very easy read and it really convicted me to be a better parent by loving my kids unconditionally. Read it and see if you're not convinced it will make you a better parent.

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Summary: The Biggest Impact in a Child's Life--Unconditional Love
Review: An absolutely wonderful book! Dr. Campbell writes from a Christian perspective on how to REALLY love your child. He asserts that everyday a child is asking his parents, "Do you love me?", not only through his words, but more importantly through his behavior. It's our answer to this question that will have the biggest impact on his/her life. Loving UNCONDITIONALLY is the answer--this means loving your child no matter what and even when at times you detest his/her behavior.

Specifically, Dr. Campbell teaches that in order to love unconditionally, you must do four things: Show love through eye contact, show love through physical attention, show love through focused attention, and finally show love through discipline. He explains how important each of these things are and how big a mistake it is to only focus on discipline. I especially liked his discussion on what he thinks Proverbs 13:24 really means regarding "Not sparing the rod". "The shepherd's rod referred to in Scripture was used almost exclusively for guiding the sheep, not beating them." In other words, we need to guide and train our children, not beat them to instill obedience.

Can't recommend this book highly enough. It's a very easy read and it really convicted me to be a better parent by loving my kids unconditionally. Read it and see if you're not convinced it will make you a better parent.

Rating:
Summary: This book is a must for every parent.
Review: Every parent needs to understand the basics in this book to really understand how to emotionally nourish their child. Printed in more than 30 languages, this book is a classic. First written in 1977 and revised in 1992, more than 1,000,000 parents world-wide have found this book to be a must for their library.

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Summary: A Must for Any Parent who wants to love their Child
Review: I have two other sisters one younger, one older and we all have at least two children. My mother bought three copies of this book and sent one to each of us at the same time. By some grace I happened to have recieved my copy at a time when I was having horrible problems with my 3 year old son. At three he was on the verge of being expelled from the Christian Daycare he was attending. My husband I were at our wits end so when I got this book I immediately picked it up and read it.(I found out later that of us 3 girls I was the only one who did).I read the whole book in 3 days going over sections several times. My husband and I began putting Dr. Campbell's suggestions into practice right away and within one week it was like living with a completely different child. Once we understood the whole "Emotional Gas Tank" theory we began to recognize quite easily when our son was getting low. What a difference. We sat down and talked with the director of the school whom also helped us to identify some personalized areas that we were not setting limits for our son thus compounding the discipline problem. The frist week was very tough but it was so worth it. It has been over a year now and we continue to practice the things we have learned in this book. I have recommended it to many friends and encouraged my sisters to read it as they continue to have problems with thier children. It is written from a Christian Standpoint which I personally find a big plus. This book is worth its weight in gold.

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Summary: "Mom, you need to get out THE BOOK".
Review: I was deeply offended when a friend gave me a copy of this book. How dare she insinuate that i didn't know how to love my children. Nobody loved their children more than I, but out of respect for her effort to help me to find better ways of living with my children as a single parent--I read the book. Just about everything Campbell said , I found contention with. why should I hug them when I didn't get hugs in my own childhood? or get down on their level when I was so busy? or look into their eyes when I was so tired? why? none of it made sense to me & I argued all the way through the book. I am a very stubborn person, so I set out to prove this obviously idiot author WRONG--BY EXPERIMENTING & DOING IT HIS WAY. Well, guess what, folks, I saw such a tremendous change in life with my children that "How to Really Love Your Child" became known as THE BOOK at our house. When life got tough & we'd be in the middle of some big fight...one of them would stop & say "Mom, you better get out THE BOOK". They knew its value because when I'd refer to THE BOOK & re-read what Campbell said about whatever problem we were having, I'd become more centered & balanced & back in control myself. My kids knew they'd GET IT when i figured out what to do, but they also knew that coming from THE BOOK whatever THEY GOT would be administered with real love. I came from a background devoid of personalized attention & hugs & most of the stuff THE BOOK advocates. I learned real fast that what i got when I hugged a child...was a hug for myself. and when I looked into little eyes, they were looking into mine. I felt that by parenting my children with the skills touted in THE BOOK I was making up for some of the loss of my own childhood. They were like little reflecting mirrors. Today my children are grown & I'm very proud of them & their abilities. This pride wouldn't have happened without the guidance I got from Campbell's "HOW TO REALLY LOVE YOUR CHILD".! Over the years I've probably given a hundred of these books away as gifts. One lady gave it back saying "i sure wish my kids were like yours, but it's just too much trouble." Well, I figured I had to live through 20 years anyway, so I might as well make it an investment in their lives rather than have to look back with regrets. My kids are great people...Thanks, Campbell, you did good!

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Summary: great book..very practical
Review: Most practical help book for raising children that I have ever seen. You can actually put the principles into practice immediately..and easily.

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Summary: Excellent Book! A "must-read" for parents!!
Review: There has been a lot of emphasis recently by "parenting experts" on training and discipline of children. This book was recommended to me by some friends as an alternative resource to some of the popular parenting "programs" out there, especially in the Christian community...we had taken one very popular (and now controversal) course and had serious reservations about it.

Campbell's book has a lot of refreshing insights into how to devlop strong parent/child relationships, to help guide and develop your child's character and moral compass and help your chldren WANT to make right choices. While reading it, I became soberly aware of just how far my spouse and I had to go in showing love to our children....that OUR behavior needed changing as well as our children's.

A challenging book! I also highly recommend "Children in Danger," Campbell's book dealing with children and anger (and parents and anger, too!) Another must-read for parents!

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Summary: Thank you, Dr. Campbell!
Review: This book is very well written, easy to read and the most "on target" parenting book ever! Thank you most of all for the inspiring section in Ch. 10, The First Requirement, pages 132-133 of the paperback edition. I have re-read those paragraphs so many times. It's what every child and every adult thirsts for.

Rating:
Summary: Thank you, Dr. Campbell!
Review: This book is very well written, easy to read and the most "on target" parenting book ever! Thank you most of all for the inspiring section in Ch. 10, The First Requirement, pages 132-133 of the paperback edition. I have re-read those paragraphs so many times. It's what every child and every adult thirsts for.

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Summary: The Truth Simply Told
Review: This book tells, in a straight forward manner, how to "read" your teenager; what they are trying to say through their body language and small "clues" they give to try and signal their needs, fears, and desires. You can tell that the author is not merely a father - but a dad. I have recomended it to numerous people and all of them have found it invaluable. I have read and re-read it over and over. It is THE book to get if you are trying to "figure out" where your teenager is coming from, and how you can span the large gulf that separates parents and teens.