Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting: Five Strategies That End the Daily Battles and Get Kids to Listen the First Time

I own just about every parenting book that has ever been written. Then one day a friend recommended Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting - no doubt sick of me lamenting my unruly children - nine year old daughter and seven year old son. I bought it figuring that it would end up on the bookshelf next to the other ones, but instead it sits on the table by the chair near the window so I can return to it to remind myself of the magic it works. After a day or two of using just a few of the techniques in this book our kids were happier, more cooperative, and there was a general sense of ease and fun within out home. This book doesn't try to change everything overnight. It doesn't try to change your kids, take away their feelings, and make them little automatons who come, sit, and stay. It teaches you how to better understand what your child feels and how to respond to them in a way that makes them want to participate in a respectful manner. I haven't even gotten to the second half of the book, but we're doing so well with what we have implemented that I felt the need to share. The techniques don't even involve sweeping changes to your lifestyle either. They are pretty simple, short conversations and tweaks that show almost immediate results. And it has affected every aspect of their lives. It's not just that they are more compliant, but they are actually happier and more confident and their behavior stems from that, rather than fear of consequences. They are doing better in school and at home. They are calmer, easier, happier people.It did just the trick for us.

I started this book with a free Kindle edition. I quickly realized I would need a hard copy because I wanted to write notes, mark pages, and easily flip between sections, as I use this book a lot. The author lays out simple strategies for easier (not perfect!) parenting that work for our household. I like that the techniques treat children as human beings with specific emotional needs. She stresses the fact that none of these are immediate solutions, but will make life easier, and better over time of consistent use. Whenever I find myself getting frustrated, losing patience, and yelling too much, I turn back to this book to remind myself the calm techniques that make a difference in our household. When I find our children are arguing more, struggling with behavior issues, or being disrespectful, I often find it is because I have not been consistently using these techniques, and once I refer back to the book and put the work in, our household is running smoothly again. I find that this book has made a difference in the way I parent and in the way our household runs. I would recommend it to other parents as a great reference for new strategies that really work.

Father of a 1 and 3 year old right now. Never really had off the rail CRAZY behavioral problems but my wife and I have been tested.I bought this book because a friend recommended it. I am 240 pages in and I have been testing every single strategy depending on the circumstances. They have worked for the most part … my wife was skeptical and now I catch her stealing my book reading it. I’ve had to use “think through” with her haha.I def recommend this for anyone with young kids. The age range for these tips from the book is 3-13 YO.

A great book. We were having some major battles with our 6 year old daughter and after putting some of the techniques in place as described in the book, she has calmed down considerably. The techniques worked from day 1 which is really encouraging and gives you the motivation to keep going. Thanks Noël.

There is no punishment, shaming or bullying as is the case with many parenting books. The examples of how kids might react to the techniques are very realistic (grousing, eye-rolling, sassing) so the author doesn't sugar-coat, but she does guide the parent on how to respond in a way that is respectful and dignified to both parent and child.I see how it's possible to use the techniques in a cold, domineering way and maybe it's possible to do that with any technique. After some thought and experimentation, I was able to adapt the techniques to my own style where I strive for warmth, authenticity and kindness while still being firm about standards of behavior. For example, part of my style is to avoid "rules" to be mindlessly followed, but rather we have expectations, values and principles such as finding solutions that work for everybody, or making sure we clean up after ourselves, or safety is paramount.One thing she doesn't tackle in this book or even provide references for is how to keep your own reactivity in check. But, that's okay because there are many other books that contain advice about that.This isn't the one and only book you should have about parenting, but it should be part of your top 20 to round out your toolbox on how to parent in a gentle, affectionate way toward raising cooperative, independent kids.

Seriously, this method had instant and permanent results. You would have had to witness the last few months of our family-toddler dynamic to see the transformation in our 2 1/2 year old daughter. She went from out of control, wild, rebellious, constantly ignoring or doing the opposite of what we asked, and we were all miserable almost all the time; now she is calm, polite, listens to us (and we listen to her), and even takes responsibility for herself and things around the house (she's not even 3 yet!!!) and we are ALL so much happier and have so much fun together! She is even sleeping better! Every day brings new joy for us. Of course she occasionally has "toddler moments" but they are only moments, and overall the terrible-twos are gone. I love being a mommy to my little girl now, and sadly I could rarely say that before. This book will change your life.If you're the author and you're reading this, I can only say THANK YOU for saving our family!

This really is a must buy; not just for parents, but anyone working with kids. As a specialist coach for children with ADHD this has been an absolute godsend. Although this isn’t specific for children with ADHD, many of the strategies are widely applicable. Especially her emphasis on descriptive praise, 'special time', and techniques for reducing misbehaviour. For me though, the highlight of this book is the ‘six-step method’ for never asking twice. This itself is worth buying the book.The beauty of this book is that it doesn’t have to be read from start to finish. You can pick it up and open to your chapter of choice. It’s immaculately laid out with useful resources and an index.The strategies are simple and Noel talks through each one as if she were in the reader’s shoes. What I love most, is how she is aware of all the things that can go wrong. But she is so calm and reassuring as she talks you through the different steps. Trust me, you are in safe hands.

Premier livre de la série que je lis. Je ne suis pas déçue. Bon livre pour les parents chercheant avoir une vraie rélation avec leur enfants.

Wir haben dieses Buch aus Interesse gekauft, um uns mal mit "Profis" abzugleichen. Die Autorin verspricht ja allerhand Techniken, um nervige Alltagssituationen zu meistern, daher waren wir offen für neue Impulse, die vor allem auch auf sozialverträgliche Art und nicht mit rabiaten Methoden manch anderer Autoren aufsetzen.Der Inhalt ist auf den ersten Blick enttäuschend, da sich das Buch vor allem an eher vermasselte Kinderstuben richtet ("ich schrie mein Kind ständig an, mit Hilfe des Buches kehrt nun Ruhe ein" - WTF?). Die beschriebenen Techniken sind gut und decken sich mit dem, was jeder halbwegs denkende Elternteil von sich aus machen würde. Es geht um die Einbindung in die Prozesse, das richtige Lob finden, die Fortschritte herausstreichen, Erfolgsstrategien für das Kind entwickeln, die Aufmerksamkeit des Kindes erlangen. Durchwegs gute Ansätze, die vor allem sich ausschliesslich auf positive Ereignisse fokussieren und somit dem Kind gut tun und es stärken. Aber eben - nichts Revolutionäres.Das Buch ist leider sehr sehr langatmig. Die ersten rund 40 Seiten beschreiben Alltagssituationen aus etwas fragwürdigen Familienverhältnissen, jeweils mit Verweisen auf im Buch noch zu besprechende Techniken. Es wird nichts verraten und der Leser wird nur neugierig auf die kommenden Kapitel gemacht. Der Schreibstil ist jedoch eingängig und die Situationen sind gut beschrieben.Was ich dem Buch aber sehr zugute halte, ist, dass die eigentlich allgemein gängigen Konzepte strukturiert dargelegt werden. Es werden Eigenschaften wie Selbständigkeit, Kooperation, Selbstbewusstsein etc. in Abhängigkeiten gebracht und aufgezeigt, welche Voraussetzungen für welche Fähigkeit erforderlich sind. Es werden Vorgehensweisen genau aufgeschlüsselt und, obwohl man das eigentlich intuitiv so machen würde, hilft es durchaus, die Strategie formell korrekt und strukturiert im Kopf zu haben. Aus pädagogischer Sicht ist an dem Buch sicherlich nichts auszusetzen und es gibt Sicherheit in der täglichen Anwendung.

paediatrician recommended it because we want to communicate better at home without yelling. We have a difficult 4 yr old boy who is hyperactive, over the top, who's preschool teachers want to label as ADHD, he's not. With a baby at home as well I haven't had time to read except the 1st chapter but even that, the first method in this book has vastly changed the whole family for the better. There IS hope for us! I just hope I get time to read more!

never received the book after a month wait!If possible, I will avoid purchasing from this seller in the future.