Comments on: Parenting Without Power Struggles: Raising Joyful, Resilient Kids While Staying Cool, Calm, and Connected

By: michelle carlson

michelle carlson — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 07:15:36 +0000

Practical, easy to implement & grounded -somewhere between old and new school parenting, just where I needed it to be In the 6 years we have been parents, my husband has read 2 books, The Expectant Father and Parenting without Power Struggles. I have read more, which I’m sure is not uncommon. This book has made us better parents and has also made us better partners in parenting. Susan’s methods are a mix of practical, developmentally appropriate approaches that are easy to implement in day to day situations. When one of us is struggling, we talk about the book to each other, and that helps us regain perspective. In some ways, Susan has become an absentee referee in our own parenting disagreements. He’s more old-school, I’m more touchy-feely. This book met us in the middle. In some chapters she affirmed some things we were already doing and in others she gave us new perspective into what was really going on between us and the kids. I want to say that this book has some good old fashioned advice, but it’s not old fashioned in it’s presentation or reasoning. In our case, this book helped us as much with the power struggles between us as parents, as between us and the kids.

By: Anna Anawalt

Anna Anawalt — Tue, 12 Mar 2013 06:51:13 +0000

Finally, a parenting book that rises above the others! I’ve just read Susan Stiffelman’s book, Parenting Without Power Struggles, and the title alone is enough to make a weary parent sigh. Finally, a book that resonates with my parenting instincts and offers concrete, do-able suggestions for accomplishing what sometimes seems to be the impossible: maintaining authority or as the author so lovingly calls it, being the ‘captain of the ship,’ while encouraging and deepening a loving bond between parent and child. How often have you walked away after yelling at your child out of sheer frustration and felt crummy, thinking ‘this isn’t right.’ She addresses so many of our common areas of power struggle, like HOMEWORK. She also encourages us to ‘celebrate our children’ but not in a false manner that leaves them dependent and ill-equipped for the world. For busy parents, aren’t we all, the book is laid out in short, easily readable chapters. A great place to start that will surely pique your interest are the Check Lists in the very back of the book, Checklist #1 and Checklist #2. Check it out!!!Anna Anawalt, Los Angeles, Caliornia