Parenting with Love and Logic: Teaching Children Responsibility [Hardcover]

But the book does have it right when it says "fighting" words are wrong. I strongly disagree with the spanking and cannot advise any parents to use such "power"-tool even on doggy-basics.

What I absolutely dislike are the questioning "love-and-logic" ways of parenting. When you use that technique it is true that the children do not quite feel like fighting BUT (and that is a big but) you coerce and manipulate the children into a mold that fits your beliefs and when the children get to the point to figure that out you will have lost. The choices cannot only be choices that will in the end not let the children learn their lesson.

It is this manipulative undertone of the book that has me up the wall.

If you are looking for an author who approaches the subject from a similiar viewpoint (healthy authority with love) turn to Kevin Leman. His humorous and engaging writing has me enthralled. His books deal at the same time with the parental interrelation as well as the relation between kids and parents. I enjoy that approach and can recommend his writing.

Best regards
Kristin und Michael, right now in Berlin, Germany

My wife read this book first and I noticed an immediate change in how she reacted to our rather headstrong two-year old. Staying calm, and giving choices like: Do you want to have milk before you go to bed, or juice? This instead of the battle on whether or not she was going to bed. We find ourselves laughing at some of the absurd choices we come up with, and it's harder than it appears to consistently think this way. What is easy to see is that it works, and works well. Some of our biggest battles over dressing, or going to bed, or eating dinner have become much easier and the "uh-oh" said calmly has stopped some poor behavior in its tracks!

While we both embrace the fact that testing the limits is a natural and healthy way for young children to learn, this book gave some great insights on how to facilitate and not discourage that type of learning, and yet still teach the right behaviors.

I was not thrilled with the overall editing and layout of the book, as it jumped around a bit, and half-way through would say things like: This may not work for children under three! OK, this is information we could have used four chapters ago when the authors were making a point we were attempting to follow. That minor complaint notwithstanding, this is an excellent book and is highly recommended for all parents with young children.