Have a New Kid by Friday: How to Change Your Child's Attitude, Behavior & Character in 5 Days
by Dr. Kevin Leman
from Revell
Anyone who has dealt with a strong-willed child knows that it is no easy task to turn bad behavior around. But the popularity of TV programs like Supernanny and Nanny 911 shows that parents have had it up to here and are ready to try anything to get their children to behave. Bestselling author and psychologist Dr. Kevin Leman is here to help. Have a New Kid by Friday shows parents how to reverse negative behavior in their children--fast! With his signature wit and encouragement, Dr. Leman offers hope and real, practical, doable strategies for regaining control and becoming the parents they always wanted to be. Focusing on changing a child's attitude, behavior, and character, it contains chapters for each day of the week and a special section with advice on everything from rolling eyes to sibling rivalry to talking back to punching walls and much, much more. This large section of more than 100 specific topics is indexed, allowing parents to flip immediately to any areas of concern for witty, straightforward, and gutsy plans of action. EXCERPT FROM CATALOG I've got news for you. Since the beginning of time, kids have been unionized, and they've got a game plan to drive you bonkers. Don't believe it? Take a look around….In today's society, kids even shorter than a yardstick are calling the shots. Some hedonistic little suckers of the ankle-biter battalion have even graduated to emeritus status and are holding down the hormone group division. Then there's the already-adult children who return home to your cozy little nest and stay and stay and stay…. You know all about that. If you picked up this book, you picked it up for a reason. You'd like to see a few things--or maybe many--change in your house. You may have small concerns, or big concerns, about your child at this point.… I'll be blunt. You got a big job to do as a parent, and a short window to do it in. If you believe that you, as a parent, are to be in healthy authority over your child, this book is for you. If you don't believe that you, as a parent, are to be in healthy authority over your child, put this book down right now and buy another.… But I've got a Midas muffler guarantee for you. If you stick to the simple strategies in this book--strategies that any parent can carry out--you'll have a new kid by Friday. You can have a great kid, and you can be a great parent. Your relationship with your child can change in just one week.
Wisdom of Our Fathers: Lessons and Letters from Daughters and Sons
by Tim Russert
from Random House Trade Paperbacks
What does it really mean to be a good father? What did your father tell you, that has stayed with you throughout your life? Was there a lesson from him, a story, or a moment that helped to make you who you are? Is there a special memory that makes you smile when you least expect it?
After the publication of Tim Russert’s number one New York Times bestseller about his father, Big Russ & Me, he received an avalanche of letters from daughters and sons who wanted to tell him about their own fathers, most of whom were not superdads or heroes but ordinary men who were remembered and cherished for some of their best moments–of advice, tenderness, strength, honor, discipline, and occasional eccentricity.
Most of these daughters and sons were eager to express the gratitude they had carried with them through the years. Others wanted to share lessons and memories and, most important, pass them down to their own children.
This book is for all fathers, young or old, who can learn from the men in these pages how to get it right, and to understand that sometimes it is the little gestures that can make the big difference for your child. For some in this book, the appreciation came later than they would have liked. But as Wisdom of Our Fathers reminds us, it is never too late to embrace it.
From the father who coached his daughter in sports (and life), attending every meet, game, performance, and tournament, to the daughter who, after a fifteen-year estrangement, learned to make peace with her difficult father just before he died, to the son who came, at last, to appreciate the silent way his father could show affection, Wisdom of Our Fathers shares rewarding lessons, immeasurable gifts, and lasting values.
Heartfelt, humorous, engaging, irresistibly readable, and bound to bring back memories of unforgettable moments with our own fathers, Tim Russert’s new book is not only a fitting companion to his own marvelous memoir, but also a celebration of the positive qualities passed down from generation to generation.
From the Hardcover edition.
Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey Through His Son's Addiction
by David Sheff
from Houghton Mifflin Co
Amazon Best of the Month, February 2008: From as early as grade school, the world seemed to be on Nic Sheff's string. Bright and athletic, he excelled in any setting and appeared destined for greatness. Yet as childhood exuberance faded into teenage angst, the precocious boy found himself going down a much different path. Seduced by the illicit world of drugs and alcohol, he quickly found himself caught in the clutches of addiction. Beautiful Boy is Nic's story, but from the perspective of his father, David. Achingly honest, it chronicles the betrayal, pain, and terrifying question marks that haunt the loved ones of an addict. Many respond to addiction with a painful oath of silence, but David Sheff opens up personal wounds to reinforce that it is a disease, and must be treated as such. Most importantly, his journey provides those in similar situations with a commodity that they can never lose: hope --Dave Callanan
Sheff s story is a first: a teenager s addiction from the parent s point of view a real-time chronicle of the shocking descent into substance abuse and the gradual emergence into hope. Before meth, Sheff s son Nic was a varsity athlete, honor student, and award-winning journalist. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who stole money from his eight-year-old brother and lived on the streets. With haunting candor, Sheff traces the first subtle warning signs, the denial (by both child and parents), the three A.M. phone calls (is it Nic? the police? the hospital?), the attempts at rehab, and, at last, the way past addiction. He shows us that, whatever an addict s fate, the rest of the family must care for each other too, lest they become addicted to addiction. Meth is the fastest-growing drug in the United States, as well as the most addictive and the most dangerous wreaking permanent brain damage faster than any other readily available drug. It has invaded every region and demographic in America. This book is the first that treats meth and its impact in depth. But it is not just about meth. Nic s addiction has wrought the same damage that any addiction will wreak. His story, and his father s, are those of any family that contains an addict and one in three American families does.
Parenting With Love And Logic (Updated and Expanded Edition)
by Foster W. Cline
from Pinon Press
Need help with your kids? Learn how to parent with love and logic and be amazed at the great results! Now with a new look and updated content, readers will enjoy passing along this best-kept parenting secret to their friends.
A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father
by Augusten Burroughs
from St. Martin's Press
Amazon Significant Seven, April 2008: When I started reading A Wolf at the Table, I thought I knew what to expect. Augusten Burroughs captures intense experience with an inexplicably cool remove, imparting a stillness and purity to emotions that would likely run amok in anyone else's hands. I love this quality of his writing, and it's present in full force in this memoir of a childhood spent in thrall to a predatory and deeply unpredictable father. What I wasn't prepared for was the suspense--the dread-filled, nearly sonorous waiting for the worst to happen. An artful sort of bait-and-switch happens in the telling: Burroughs brings you to the brink of a terrible catharsis more than once, but the break in tension never comes. It is profoundly sad, remarkably tender, and fueled by a sense of love and reverence that only a child knows. --Anne Bartholomew
“As a little boy, I had a dream that my father had taken me to the woods where there was a dead body. He buried it and told me I must never tell. It was the only thing we’d ever done together as father and son, and I promised not to tell. But unlike most dreams, the memory of this one never left me. And sometimes…I wasn’t altogether sure about one thing: was it just a dream?”
When Augusten Burroughs was small, his father was a shadowy presence in his life: a form on the stairs, a cough from the basement, a silent figure smoking a cigarette in the dark. As Augusten grew older, something sinister within his father began to unfurl. Something dark and secretive that could not be named.
Betrayal after shocking betrayal ensued, and Augusten’s childhood was over. The kind of father he wanted didn’t exist for him. This father was distant, aloof, uninterested…
And then the “games” began.
With A Wolf at the Table, Augusten Burroughs makes a quantum leap into untapped emotional terrain: the radical pendulum swing between love and hate, the unspeakably terrifying relationship between father and son. Told with scorching honesty and penetrating insight, it is a story for anyone who has ever longed for unconditional love from a parent. Though harrowing and brutal, A Wolf at the Table will ultimately leave you buoyed with the profound joy of simply being alive. It’s a memoir of stunning psychological cruelty and the redemptive power of hope.
Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know
by Meg Md Meeker
from Ballantine Books
In today’s increasingly complicated world, it’s often difficult for parents to connect with their daughters–and especially so for fathers. In this unique and invaluable guide, Dr. Meg Meeker, a pediatrician with more than twenty years’ experience counseling girls, reveals that a young woman’s relationship with her father is far more important than we’ve ever realized. To become a strong, confident woman, a daughter needs her father’s attention, protection, courage, and wisdom. Dr. Meeker shares the ten secrets every father needs to know in order to strengthen or rebuild bonds with his daughter and shape her life–and his own–for the better. Inside you’ll discover:
• the essential virtues of strong fathers–and how to develop them
• the cues daughters take from their dads on everything from self-respect to drugs, alcohol, and sex
• the truth about ground rules (girls do want them, despite their protests)
• the importance of becoming a hero to your daughter
• the biggest mistake a dad can make–and the ramifications
• the fact that girls actually depend on their dads’ guidance into adulthood
• steps fathers can follow to help daughters avoid disastrous decisions and mistakes
• ways in which a father’s faith–or lack thereof–will influence his daughter
• essential communication strategies for different stages of a girl’s life
• true stories of “prodigal daughters”–and how their fathers helped to bring them back
Dads, you are far more powerful than you think–and if you follow Dr. Meeker’s advice, the rewards will be unmatched.
“Reassuring and challenging . . . a helpful road map for concerned fathers [that] tackles difficult issues.”
–National Review
“A touching, illuminating book that will prove valuable to all of us who are fortunate enough to have been blessed with daughters.”
–Michael Medved, nationally syndicated radio talk-show host, author of Right Turns
“Dr. Meeker’s conclusions are timely, relevant, and often deeply moving. No one interested in what girls experience growing up in our culture today–and the impact that parents, especially fathers, have on the experience–can afford to miss reading this book.”
–Armand M. Nicholi, Jr., M.D., professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
The Creative Family: How to Encourage Imagination and Nurture Family Connections
by Amanda Blake Soule
from Trumpeter
When you learn to awaken your family’s creativity, wonderful things will happen: you’ll make meaningful connections with your children in large and small ways; your children will more often engage in their own creative discoveries; and your family will embrace new ways to relax, play, and grow together. With just the simple tools around you—your imagination, basic art supplies, household objects, and natural materials—you can transform your family life, and have so much more fun!
Amanda Soule has charmed many with her tales of creativity and parenting on her blog, SouleMama. Here she shares ideas and projects with the same warm tone and down-to-earth voice. Perfect for all families, the wide range of projects presented here offers ideas for imaginative play, art and crafts, nature explorations, and family celebrations.
This book embraces a whole new way of living that will engage your children’s imagination, celebrate their achievements, and help you to express love and gratitude for each other as a family.
To learn more about the author, Amanda Soule, visit her blog at www.SouleMama.com.
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Supernanny: How to Get the Best From Your Children
by Jo Frost
from Hyperion
For despairing moms and dads everywhere, "Supernanny" Jo Frost may as well be wearing a Wonder Woman costume. Her no-nonsense rules--not tips, not advice, but rules--for consistently managing one's offspring leave no room for arguments (or wrestling matches). From her arms-akimbo stance on the book's cover, it's clear she's in charge, and ready to instruct all wishy-washy (overworked American) parents how to lay down the law in their own home. She offers her "top ten rules" for setting boundaries, managing mealtimes, even surviving toilet training, and it's mostly rock-solid, and peppered liberally with British wit. (For parents who obsess over their toddler's every meal, she warns: "It doesn't take long for them to work out the obvious: you can't make them eat.") Frost may not have a degree in child development, but she was raised in a stable, doting family, and has 15 years' experience taking care of tots, a combination which puts her way ahead of most parents. She may be firm, but by setting definite boundaries, she sets the stage for parenting to be more of a "joy" and much less of a "slog." You can raise your sippy cups to that. --Erica Jorgensen
Meet Supernanny Jo Frost, a modern-day Mary Poppins here to rescue today's beleaguered parents by offering up her practical, road-tested methods of childrearing in an indispensable new book based on her upcoming ABC-TV series.
Jo Frost, a.k.a. Supernanny, is the answer to every stressed-out parent's dreams. In ABC's upcoming primetime TV series by the same name, Jo works miracles on problem children by dispensing hard-won wisdom and reassuring us that parents really do know best. The Supernanny method gives parents the know-how to tackle problem areas such as mealtime, bath time, bedtime, bedwetting, homework, sibling rivalry, aggressive behavior, or a child who just won't do what he or she is told to do.
Divided into action-oriented problem and solution sections, Supernanny will show parents how to restore harmony and authority in the home using the Supernanny's ten basic rules and her effective, no-nonsense approach to problem-solving. For example:
Problem: What if your child refuses to go to bed? Supernanny Solution: Develop a bedtime routine so that the child can get used to a consistent pattern that she is not going to be able to change or manipulate. A routine will set up a calming sequence of events that will be designed to help the child relax.
Problem: Toilet-training Supernanny Solution: Prepare your child by taking any hint of shame or disgust out of what is simply a natural fact of life. Keep the door open, bring her into the bathroom with you, and explain what's happening, including the use of toilet paper and the washing of hands afterward.
Freeing Your Child from Anxiety: Powerful, Practical Solutions to Overcome Your Child's Fears, Worries, and Phobias
by Tamar E. Chansky
from Broadway
Anxiety is the number one mental health problem facing young people today.
Childhood should be a happy and carefree time, yet more and more children today are exhibiting symptoms of anxiety, from bedwetting and clinginess to frequent stomach aches, nightmares, and even refusing to go to school. Parents everywhere want to know: All children have fears, but how much is normal? How can you know when a stress has crossed over into a full-blown anxiety disorder? Most parents don’t know how to recognize when there is a real problem and how to deal with it when there is.
In Freeing Your Child From Anxiety, a childhood anxiety disorder specialist examines all manifestations of childhood fears, including social anxiety, Tourette’s Syndrome, hair-pulling, and Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and guides you through a proven program to help your child back to emotional safety.
No child is immune from the effects of stress in today’s media-saturated society. Fortunately, anxiety disorders are treatable. By following these simple solutions, parents can prevent their children from needlessly suffering today—and tomorrow.
www.broadwaybooks.com
The Marriage Benefit: The Surprising Rewards of Staying Together
by Mark O'Connell
from Springboard Press
Baby boomers' expectations for their marriages are often unrealistic. When their relationship comes up short on romance and sex, but seems long on disagreements and strife, many boomers choose to leave.
THE MARRIAGE BENEFIT is less a book about how to make our relationships better than it is about how our relationships can make us better if we just work on our expectations and improve communications. Harvard Medical School clinical instructor and psychotherapist O'Connell offers a peek behind the door of a marriage therapist, where readers can see that their problems are not unique.
Through wonderfully revealing anecdotes of couples with problems many of us face: long-held bitterness, diminished sexuality, the scars of infidelity, and the search for authentic meaning, O'Connell shows how by respecting each other's individuality, looking for "real" sex, and learning how to play with each other again, we can reap the benefits of the long-term emotional investment we've made.
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