Rating: 
Summary: Thank Goodness!
Review: After reading this book I am counting my blessings. I am so glad Dr. Laura isn't my mother.
Rating: 
Summary: I was a liberal-minded day care worker
Review: Working mothers BEWARE! I spent a good part of my twenties working as a nanny and day care worker. I considered myself a feminist and was 100% behind working Moms-- married or unmarried. I thought I was doing a great service to society by helping mothers fulfill themselves. I mean afterall doesn't the mother have to be happy for the child to be happy? Well, that's what I thought at the time anyway. I know a lot of what Dr. Laura has to say is difficult to swallow, and quite often vicious, but I tell you true... your children are suffering. THEY WANT AND NEED YOU HOME! My heart would continually break from hearing children beg for their mothers and question why their mothers couldn't take care of them. Even the children who'd just accepted their fate of being handed to someone else on a daily basis suffered. As a nanny, I worked for Moms with more than enough financial means to stay home with their children. How much are your children worth to you? Are you willing to give up your cars, cell-phones, prestigious jobs? One thing I'm certain of... when I have children, I am staying home NO MATTER WHAT. In this day and age even single moms have plenty of opportunity to work out of the home. After what I've seen, I know there is NO excuse for putting your children on the backburner. How can you be a good mother if you're not home to do job? Often, you don't really know WHO is parenting your children. You'd be shocked if you did. No amount of character references can reveal a person's heart. I knew nannies who had put themselves through college dancing as strippers ("of course his Mom doesn't know that... she probably wouldn't understand"). I knew of day care workers who were members of cults and some who actually hated children. The mothers had NO CLUE! How do you really know what's going on while you're away? THESE PEOPLE WERE PARENTING YOUR KID! I've gone from one extreme to another in a VERY short amount of time. Mothers... whether you like Dr. Laura or not... PLEASE put your children first. Our future depends on it. By the way... for those critics who say Dr. Laura is a "working Mom"... she only works the hours her son is at school. Her show is on from 12-3. She's home when he gets there. I see no hypocrisy. Stop denying the truth for the sake of your own PERSONAL goals. Kids today are in BIG trouble and it's only getting worse. Look around you. Look at your children and make a commitment to give them ALL of you.
Rating:
Summary: Working Mothers - READ THIS
Review: As a working mother of a 5 month old girl, I'm always looking for positive and helpful information on raising my daughter the very best I can (along with my husband's help). After reading only sections of the book I was outraged at some of the content Dr. Laura has written. In the past I have been quite an admirer of her bold approach at telling women like it is..it seems as though her approach has turned itself into a controversial spin to keep herself marketable. I agree with her on most aspects (like discipline and the lack thereof in parenting today) but she is completely out of line with her opinion *and it is just that* on parents who leave their children in daycare. Especially today's working mother. In fact, her words just add insult to injury..what she should be doing here is praising women for their amazing ability to handle so many tasks on any given day. A recent article in Working Mother's magazine sited a statistic that today's mom (working or not) spends more hours per day with their children than they did 20 years ago. How could this be accomplished? Women today are forgoing everyday necesseties (like sleep to name one) to spend quality time with our kids, love our husbands, clean our homes, cook our dinners, manage our families lives, and still try to advance in our careers and put in 40 hours each week at the office. And then to rub salt in our wound..she goes on to say we (women) aren't doing enough to keep our marriages together and insuring that our children have two parents to raise them. What? A large majority of marriages end because of infedelity - has she forgotten that she has been on the crusade to tell women not to stand for that? Dr. Laura, you're confusing us!Some of her advice perpetuates the very problems she is against. Busy mom's out there..save your precious time and energy and spend your money on a book about positive parenting (like Parenting Power).
Rating:
Summary: putting the horse behind the cart
Review: The conclusion that american parents' tendency leave too much child rearing to socalled experts is contributing to the very behavioural problems these experts are sought for is undoubtly right. The intolerance of towards anybody differnt the author promotes - be it towards single parents, gays, lesbians or people from a different etnicity, will contribute however to the insecurity of parents which is the reason why they are seeking out these experts in the first place. Claiming that people are morally inferior will not boast their self conficdence as parents nor benifit the larger community itsself. While I liked the original approach of the author I was shocked by the bigottery displayed further on.
Rating: 
Summary: Working and Nonworking Parents
Review: In favor of working and nonworking parents, it's off from reality. She works and has always worked. If a person like Laura who sees herself so high and mighty can spit judgements out a dime a dozen and have a conflicting relationship with her son, mother and own religious group (whom she adopted and claimed but only a few years ago) why would most of us listen to her? I truly feel sorry for the woman. She is so mean to people and the public in general, it's sad. Around three years ago she was to talk to a Jewish group of women at a speaking engagement in Dallas, TX. She threw a fit on stage and walked out insulting many fans, told off the hotel staff and maids, cab driver and others. People need a hero; we're all looking for one. Working parents and nonworking parents have many of the same goals and hopes for their children. Single parenthood is on the rise and parents must provide adequate shelter and healthy food for their children. All parents and grandparents want to be the very best they can be for the kids, but it's just not always a reality. Laura has gone stone cold mad with anger. The more she tries to represent what she wishes with all her heart to be, she is failing immensely. We all have a house cleaning to do right in our own souls, heart and home. It's terribly hard to try and pull off a shiny new "want to be" reputation without first getting our own significant house in order..........and loving and asking forgiveness from our mothers and fathers (especially our own moms). Laura is not happy and it shows in every inch of her poor worn out wrinkled face and barking razor slice voice. We should all get right with our personal life first before leaping to judge others so sharply. Personally, I think she needs a good long rest and a hug from her mom. Best buys for well sought out parenting heros in my opinion is "The Complete Single Mother" (you don't have to be a single parent to reap the benefits of this book) and "Mommy-CEO" (where the message is clear and equal that ALL mothers work). I am a nonworking outside parent, but you can bet your bottom dollar parenting is work that is never done, even if your son is 16 or 18 or 20! They need time and most of all love - but shelter and food are big parts of simple existence.
Rating:
Summary: Making money on common sense?
Review: I had to ask myself, why am I reading this book, and why would anyone read it? I couldn't finish it because of 1) the atrocious writing and 2) it was all common sense! It's like writing a book about the sky being blue. This book seems to serve no other purpose than to help Laura sell her Victorian dogma. Nevermind the hypocrisy of Laura writing this book and living a wealthy life that doesn't have to deal with the constraints that the middle and lower classes do, this book is a vague ideology of common sense blown up so grandiose that it becomes a fairy tale. If "Dr." Laura wants to live in "Pleasantville", she's welcome to it.
Rating:
Summary: Every person needs to read this before becoming a parent...
Review: Dr. Laura's message is clear - parenting isn't a right, it's a gift. What we do with that gift makes all the difference in the world. I used to be a teacher. I quit the profession when I got tired of children not taking responsibility for their actions. Why should they, their parents aren't. The book drums home that we must take responsibility for our actions. It's not a new message, just one that has been lost. Her point is that before having children, the potential parents need to have a commitment to fulfill the obligation. Parents are obligated to provide a loving, stable environment for the child. They are obligated to putting their child's needs first. (Yes, having a child is an obligation!) They are obligated to teach their children responsibility, morality, and respect. For those of you who gave the book a low rating (some of you without even reading it), what is wrong with that message?
Rating: 
Summary: a crystal ball
Review: Unfortunately, Dr. Laura hits the nail right on the head in this book. It's a sad, but accurate, view of the state of the American family today. It's frightening, frankly. I would have given it 5 stars, but sometimes the book makes me too depressed! The book shows how much work we have to do, as a society, to get back to treating children and families as the priority they are. She has covered the topic masterfully.
Rating:
Summary: FINALLY!
Review: Yes! It was a dirty job but someone had to do it. Much applause for Dr. Schlessinger's Parenthood by Proxy... Just that much in the title says more than enough. With far too many, it is the the thinking that "We'll leave it up to the schools to teach our kids. Let's just find them a good school..." NO! That is not good enough. In fact it's criminal! Parents just don't go to jail for it. It is the parents who should be the PRIMARY provider for their children, and not just education either, but parents need to take responsibility for the childs entire well-being, physically, academically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Like the rest of the title goes..."Don't have them if you won't raise them. Thank you Laura!
Rating:
Summary: Those who need to hear this book's message will hate it!
Review: Dr Laura pinpoints exactly how parents have abandoned their children in favor of satisfying their own desires. She presents a very strong case against the forces in American culture which conspire to undermine and denigrate families. Unfortunately, she won't win any converts with this book. The very parents she criticizes won't be swayed by Dr Laura's message here. The truth is just too painful. Alternatively, parents who are putting their kids first will cheer her and this book will bolster their choices.
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