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cari1268's review
DNF at 61%
I realized I was forcing myself to read this solely to finish it and not because I was getting anything out of it. I can see how this would be helpful to some parents. For myself, I'm still searching for a parenting book on keeping calm that doesn't include meditation/meditation-like practices. I'm sure they work. However, as a full-time parent who works from home, free time is too sparse and precious for me to commit to such a practice. I'm sure I'm not the only one in this boat.
The writing was not engaging.
I realized I was forcing myself to read this solely to finish it and not because I was getting anything out of it. I can see how this would be helpful to some parents. For myself, I'm still searching for a parenting book on keeping calm that doesn't include meditation/meditation-like practices. I'm sure they work. However, as a full-time parent who works from home, free time is too sparse and precious for me to commit to such a practice. I'm sure I'm not the only one in this boat.
The writing was not engaging.
heddsomewhere's review
3.0
Being at Your Best When Your Kids are at Their Worst. This is more of a self-help book for parents, than a parenting how-to book. The focus is on meditation, or mindfulness, as a tool to deal with difficult situations with your children. Though written from a secular worldview, I found a lot of the tips helpful and can apply a lot of the meditation practices with my Christian worldview. I disagree with the author on his stance on disobedience, because we are all, as human beings, rebellious. It just highlights for me that not every act of defiance from a child is an act of disobedience. There are some good tips in this book for recognising your triggers as a parent, and that is the part I found most helpful.
hazelrayson's review against another edition
Started out well, but I did get bored after a couple of hours.
23missb's review
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
3.75
The best bit in this book is that our families should value centred vs child centred.
samantha_reads_more's review
4.0
I enjoyed the first part of this book, and the different explanations of parenting styles and types. I also liked that he gave tips on how to be kinder to yourself (as the parent) and how to be more engaged and in tune with your child. I think that these are both important aspects of parenting. He was very spot on about our own baggage as a parent, what we bring from our childhood that affects our parenting abilities sometimes, unconsciously.
I would recommend this book to parents who are just kind of venturing into this deeper, more mindful level of parenting. I think for myself, I've taken a mindfulness class as well as gone to therapy to overcome and work through some of my reactive responses/triggers, and that's why I am giving the book a 4 instead of a 5. It was also a little repetitive to me because I've worked on a lot of what he brings in the book. I think that if you've not done that internal work before reading this book that this would've definitely been a 5 star read for me.
I would recommend this book to parents who are just kind of venturing into this deeper, more mindful level of parenting. I think for myself, I've taken a mindfulness class as well as gone to therapy to overcome and work through some of my reactive responses/triggers, and that's why I am giving the book a 4 instead of a 5. It was also a little repetitive to me because I've worked on a lot of what he brings in the book. I think that if you've not done that internal work before reading this book that this would've definitely been a 5 star read for me.
cleniuk's review
3.0
"Acknowledging and understanding that our children are disoriented rather than disobedient when they act out helps us embrace a more accepting attitude."
smschumacher's review
3.0
I ordered this from the library based on the title. It wasn’t what I expected; he lays out a “compassionate response practice”, which is sort of a visualization type of meditation combined with self-compassion. Whether or not it works remains to be seen, but any time you focus on meditation, mindfulness and self-compassion it’s going to benefit your parenting.
I suppose I might have been expecting more of a Whole Brain Child approach, with scientific explanations and practical instructions/phrases (“connect and redirect”). This is not that.
I’ve read his Simplicity Parenting, which I didn’t care for and found obvious/common sense advice. Perhaps that’s what caught me so off guard - this is definitely an unconventional approach. Whole Brain Child remains my most highly recommended parenting book, so read that first.
I suppose I might have been expecting more of a Whole Brain Child approach, with scientific explanations and practical instructions/phrases (“connect and redirect”). This is not that.
I’ve read his Simplicity Parenting, which I didn’t care for and found obvious/common sense advice. Perhaps that’s what caught me so off guard - this is definitely an unconventional approach. Whole Brain Child remains my most highly recommended parenting book, so read that first.