New Summer Reading

I know, I know, you've already got your summer reading lined up and it's mostly brain candy for lounge chair moments. But, should you have a yen for some encouraging and enlightening non-fiction, the Kidspace parent lending library has some new, very practical titles to tempt you.

Raising Happiness by Christine Carter, PhD
 Don't let the PhD behind her name scare you off. This is no dry-as-corn-flakes read. Can a book based on scientific research really offer step by step practical, empathetic ways to address raising happier children? According to many who have read it, yes. Here is the review at Amazon.com:
"Raising Happiness is an elegant, funny, and rigorous handbook for the humbling task of raising joyful children. Brimming with brilliantly distilled science, poignant stories from her family, and what parents so urgently seek—clear, practical, and informed guidance—it is an encyclopedia of wisdom for raising children in today's multitasking, multimedia world. Christine Carter offers thoughtful approaches to raising more grateful, playful, mindful children and she provides practical tips for how to handle the conflicts of siblings, the challenges of the new media, and countering the pressures of perfectionism and materialism. In reading this engaging book, you are very likely to find yourself a bit happier as well." —Dacher Keltner, author Born To Be Good: The Science of A Meaningful Life, Professor of Psychology, University of California, Berkeley

The Self-Aware Parent by Dr. Fran Walfish
At a certain point we all sense our own inner changes become a key to more competently parenting  the actual children we have under our roofs. Sometimes we find our parent-child relationships are not at all what we thought family life would be when we were first turning the pages of "What to Expect When You're Expecting". This chapter in life seems harder than it should be. We feel puzzled and bewildered and can't seem to move away from patterns of interacting that are driving us crazy. This book can help turn your thoughts to creative ways of real change. Here is the Amazon.com description:

A healthy relationship based on mutual trust is every parent’s wish. The bond between infant and parent is a natural phenomenon, but as children [get older] and form their own personalities, fireworks between the child and parent can ensue. Drawing on 20 years of clinical experience and new theories on attachment, family therapist and consultant to Parents magazine Dr. Fran Walfish argues that parents need to distinguish their own personality types in order to make more informed decisions about how they interact and raise their own children.

 Kids, Parents, and Power Struggles by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

If that title describes life at your house, then grab this book. Kurcinka can show you how power struggles cease when we start paying attention to our own  and our child's emotions. Stella Chess, MD, the respected researcher in temperament and Professor of Child Psychiatry at NY University Medical School writes:

". . .her primary lesson is that power struggles give paents an opportunity to teach their children better ways of expressing frustration, anger, jealousy, and other emotions. Kurcinka also helps us recognize the role that temperament, both our own and our child's plays in family life--and that continued success depends on respecting our differences." 

There are many other great titles on all kinds of parenting and child development topics in the Kidspace lending library (located in the downstairs core conference room). And if you have a concern you'd like to talk about or are looking for resources, please speak with me or get in touch by email. Hope you are enjoying the heart of summer.