Discipline is important at our house, and with three young boys it tends to get pretty rowdy pretty quickly. The title of this book really gives it a lot to live up to, and I think it does a pretty good job.
You may recognize the author, Elizabeth Pantley from her other “No-Cry” books, and her basic premise is that making a positive emotional connection with your kids is the way to bring order to chaos and leave the screaming behind.
Much of her advice is not new, but it is great to have it all in one place for easy reference. Follow through on what you say you’re going to do, give kids a choice of 2 things that are acceptable to you, get down at their level when you speak to them, routines are important, the uses of distraction and redirection, and using positive language are all techniques I’ve heard before, but I liked her quick summaries of how to make these strategies work for you. If you don’t have time to read a lot of parenting books, these brief notes can be a life saver.
Where this book begins to differentiate itself from the pack is the large section in the middle devoted to parental anger — the possible reasons behind it, very specific tools to manage it, and the reassurance that being angry at your kids will not scar them.
But by far the best part of this book is the encyclopedia of irritating behaviors… um I mean “developmentally-appropriate behaviors that adults don’t enjoy witnessing” — organized alphabetically, no less — complete with solutions to these problems. Here’s a selection of just a few of the topics addressed:
- Bath, not behaving in (See also Bath, not wanting one, Bath, won’t get out)
- Bossiness
- Hitting a parent
- Lying
- Other people’s undisciplined children
- Sharing
- Sibling fights
- and lots on Sleep
What I love about these quick-hits is that when you’re at the end of your rope with a particular problem, you don’t have to wade through a huge parenting book to find the tidbit you need right then. This book is full of solutions to common parenting problems, and I recommend it.
This review of Elizabeth Pantley‘s “The No-Cry Discipline Solution” is part of a MotherTalk Book Tour.
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Do you subscribe to or read any baby or parenting magazines?