My favorite books chapter 3: Parenting Books

My all time favorite parenting books is Siblings Without Rivalry by Faber and Mazlish. I reread this book at least once a year. It is a fun read and very anecdotal as well as bringing out some great points. The authors of this book have really invested time and energy in to viewing life from a child's perspective. One of my favorite parts to this book was when they likened the arrival of a new sibling to your partner getting an additional spouse. It was hilarious, and pointed. To quote:

Imagine your spouse puts an arm around you and says,'Honey, I love you so much, and you're so wonderful that I've decided to have another wife just like you.' When the new wife finally arrives she's very young and cute. When the three of you are together, people say hello to you politely, but exclaim ecstatically over the newcomer."Isn't she adorable!"

The same authors also wrote How to Talk so Kids Will Listen, and Listen So Kids Will Talk. Another really fabulous book that I have read several times. They really dive in to the reasons behind why kids behave the way they do and invite you to really think yourself.

I am currently reading Calm and Compassionate Children and enjoying it. I don't think its one that I"ll read over and over again but definitely worth the current read. One point they did make was that often when parents letting children do things "just to make the kids happy", the children aren't really happy. This hit home for me especially with the following example, I let Ike play 20 minutes of video games a day. When he does starfall.com or even Lego.com usually it all goes pretty smoothly. However, he got Lego Pirates of the Caribbean for his birthday. He begs and begs to play it and 9 times out of 10 he ends up in tears. I felt like letting him play it was something nice I could do for him but really it was making him miserable.