Summary

After being bombarded by parenting fad after parenting fad, moms and dads finally have a friendly, commonsense guide to raising thriving children.

Today, many parents have rejected the dictatorships they resented from their own childhoods. But they overcorrected by turning into child-pleasers. Showering praise and letting kids rule the roost has actually eroded the very self-esteem parents are trying to create.

Using her clinical experience, psychiatrist Robin Berman shows parents how they can take charge while building a loving family with deep connections. How children learn love and respect at home becomes the template for how they show love and respect in life. It's a huge task, but Dr. Berman is your ally every step of the way.

Every parent's struggles are reflected (many of them comically), but so are heartwarming triumphs. Parents, teachers and children themselves recount turning points at which they figured out what great parenting looked like and the magic it unlocked.

This engaging book--a perfect mix of medical research and inspirational anecdotes--just might be the key to being the parent you want to be and the parent your children need.

Publisher's Weekly Review

Psychiatrist and mother of three Berman joins the backlash against helicopter parenting with this accessible, well-written guide. Based on her experience working with both children and adults, the book is full of memorable anecdotes and quotes that show how quickly parents can turn brats into better citizens. In a winning chapter titled "Prada Kids," the author relates stories of parents whose egos cloud their sense of sportsmanship when their children take the field. In a world that emphasizes success and achievement, Berman celebrates such unfashionable goals as "shepherding" the soul and "developing a deep and loving relationship with your child and fostering great character." One of the book's powerful messages is that giving unconditional love to children doesn't mean relinquishing control, but it does mean modeling good behavior, as when a mother requires her two young sons to engage in peaceful problem solving using a talking stick. Similarly, Berman advises parents to moderate exposure to digital media-not just their child's, but their own. In other words, "parenting is more about raising yourself than it is about raising your child." This convincing and helpful book includes end-of-chapter summaries for easy reference, as well as sample parent-child contracts for the pre-teen phone user or new driver. Agent: Jan Miller, Dupree/Miller & Associates. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.