Ask the Children : The Breakthrough Study That Reveals How to Succeed at Work and Parenting

Rating:
Summary: Poor Research
Review: Ask the Children is an interesting book, but one that could be, and probably has been, summarized in a much shorter Parents Magazine article and still be quite useful. Bottom line, the fact that both parents work does not affect children as much as how their parents treat them affects them. Still, this would be an excellent resource for research purposes. I just don't think you need to spend your money simply because you are interested in the topic.

Rating:
Summary: Adds Nothing New
Review: Ask the Children is an interesting book, but one that could be, and probably has been, summarized in a much shorter Parents Magazine article and still be quite useful. Bottom line, the fact that both parents work does not affect children as much as how their parents treat them affects them. Still, this would be an excellent resource for research purposes. I just don't think you need to spend your money simply because you are interested in the topic.

Rating:
Summary: Poor Research
Review: Don't think this is a great eye-opener. It is apparent that Galinsky undertook the research in order to relieve guilt for working parents. This is not the way to do it. She litters her book with contradictions that invalidate her work. For example, "56 percent of parents assume that their children would wish for more time together....And 50 percent...feel that they have too little time with their child." Then she concludes, "But only 10% of children wish that their mothers would spend more time with them, and 15.5% say the same thing about their fathers."
But then she says later: "39% of children 13 through 18 years old feel they have too little time with their fathers, compared with 29% of children 8-12 years of age." And, "We found that the quantity of time with mothers and fathers does matter a great deal. Children who spend more time with their mothers and fathers on workdays and nonworkdays see their parents more positively, feel that their parents are more successful at managing work and family responsibilities, and see their parents as putting their families first."
In one paragraph she discusses how parents talking about work affects their children, but that they are "reluctant" to talk to their children! How can talkng about work affect children if they are reluctant to talk about it???
So, children are affected, but they're not. They don't want more time, but they really do. Is it 15% or 39%? Most of the research is either bad or of the "duh!" type. If you are doing serious research, look elsewhere; if you want some feel good stuff because you're feeling guilty, stick to the parent magazines.

Rating:
Summary: Great reference on how to raise teenagers
Review: This book is very well-written and well-structured. It assisted me a great deal to write a graduate paper on how teenagers are affected when parents do not play an active role in their child's life. The learnings from the study are very interesting and I highly recommend it to anyone who is a parent.

Enjoy!