Calm Parents, Happy Kids: The Secrets of Stress-free Parenting

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You’re about to discover the practical tools you need to transform your parenting in a positive, proven way. Laughter releases the same tensions as tears, so playing with children is also a terrific way to support them in expressing their fears and frustrations. When I started reading I didn't understand how we could raise a disciplined and obedient child without using methods like time-out, but the time-in method has worked wonders for us.

This book is a practical guide on how to give our kids roots (secure attachment and unconditional love) and wings (socio-emotional and life skills to thrive in life).Open this book, and you'll find clarity, wisdom, workable ideas, and generous helpings of respect for parents and children. I like her premise - choose love, more love is always the answer, your kids are not the enemy, etc - but I wish it was presented with more compassion and less condescension.

I was super into it after the first several pages, even raving about it to my husband and asking if he’d consider reading along with me. In Calm Parents, Happy Kids, Dr Laura Markham introduces an approach to parenting that eliminates threats, power struggles and manipulation, in favour of setting limits with empathy and communication. That means pay attention to your “triggers” – what your child does that makes you feel angry and frustrated? Laura Markham's book is a fantastic resource for parents that want to really enjoy parenting and have a house full of truly happy children. Her thoughts on reducing stress, increasing connection and communication, and empowering our kids very much mirror how I parent my own kids (or at least how I aspire to parent!I've been going down to his level, understanding his point of view, acknowledging his want or need but I still hold my ground. One great example is if your kid were to say, look you in the eyes and throw food, you should drop what you're doing and play with them for 1-2 minutes because what they really need is connection with their parents and that will fix the problem.

Some perfectly healthy parents and kids do, but those are a very small minority compared to extreme cases of dysfunction.Laura has given parents the gift of learning how their parenting can evolve alongside their children's growth and development. I found it a little tricky at first as the reading is quite fast and as it's not read by the author it isn't always put across that well but I am so glad I stuck with it as it has given me lots of invaluable pointers.