June 29, 2015

Peaceful Parents, Happy Siblings

Dominique Book Review, Parenting and Kids Parenting, sibling harmony

Peaceful Parents, Happy Siblings Book Cover

Peaceful Parent, Happy Siblings: How to Stop the Fighting and Raise Friends for Life by Dr Laura Markham is a book which advocates Peace between parents and their children.

The book is divided into three parts

– Peaceful Parenting 101

– Teaching Peace

– Before the new baby and through the first year.

Getting siblings to get along is never easy however it is possible to reduce the friction between them.

Many a time the errant behavior doesn’t get correct as the child doesn’t own the misbehavior. They need to be intrinsically motivated to change for the better. They need to be taught how to identify and communicate their needs and feelings.

Parents can show how siblings can interact nicely with each other through doing the following.

– Describe what is happening

– Empathize with the child

– Coaching the children to put their feelings into words without attacking the other child.

By helping their children work out their feelings and emotion they will be able to understand each other better and reduce the friction between siblings.

Children need to be thought how to problem solve as these are essential skills to have so that they can survive in today’s world.

My thoughts

Having the kids live side by side in harmony is any parent’s dream. Constant bickering and fighting have been driving me up the wall and I certainly wish for more moments of peace and tranquility within our household.

There are many useful tips in Dr Laura’s book on how to deal with discord between siblings and also how to coach them how to deal with disagreements using peaceful means.

Learning to return yourself to calm is one of the most important actions you can take to strengthen your child’s relationship with each other.

I find this statement in the book extremely important in keeping the peace in a family. It hasn’t been easy to remain calm when the kids are at each other throats .

Being calm it’s something that I hope to achieve with my own kids and become a peaceful parent myself.

I found the book really useful and will be implementing the negotiation tools that I’ve learned in the book with the boys. I’m looking forward to less bickering in our household and more PEACE between the siblings.

Do get a copy of the book Peaceful Parent, Happy Siblings: How to Stop the Fighting and Raise Friends for Life if you are interested to gain some tips on how to raise Happy siblings.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are 100% mine. This post has affiliate links.

June 1, 2015

Stuff You Already Know – Gina DeLapa

Dominique Book Review, Parenting and Kids College, Guide for College Students

Stuff You Already Know

Stuff You Already Know: And Every College Student Should by Gina DeLapa was a book that Monkey Boy and I are co-reviewing. Both of us read through the book and are sharing our views on the book here in this post.

This book written by Gina DeLapa is divided into three main parts.

– One Foot In

– Both Feet in

– One Foot Out

Gina talks about you need to know when you just entered collage, succeeding during the college years and deciding on what to do after you have completed college.

The 367 nuggets which she provided in the book gives one an insight to how to survive the collage years. It gives one a perspective of what to expect and how to fully utilize the time that one has in college to explore and learn about what is most suitable field that one should pursue.

College is a great time to learn as much as you can from life outside the classroom. It is a great time to discover yourself and learn about your strengths and weaknesses.

It is a time where one can experiment within limits and have a deeper understanding about how one’s action affects decision making and your potential career path.

My thoughts

I really enjoyed reading through the anecdotes that Gina had dished out generously in her book. It would certainly have helped me make better use of the time I had when I was in college some 20 years ago.

I would certainly be more adventurous and try out the different subject combinations which I was entitled to instead of sticking to the “SAFE” subjects within the degree that I had chosen.

I also would have spent more time building up relationships with others as it would have been a great opportunity to do some networking.

Monkey Boy’s Thoughts

He found the book really interesting . Even though he is still far from entering college it did give him a glimpse of how it would be like for him if he were going to college.

It was an eye opener for him reading about what how it will be for him in the future when he enters college in time to come.

I do recommend this book if you have kids who will be going off to college soon.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book for review purposes. All opinions are 100% mine. This post has affiliate links.