Planning for tomorrow's relationship with your child

Kids, they’re so cute when they’re sleeping, but they don’t sleep all the time. Since our kids are human beings, smaller than us (at least until they hit those teenage growth spurts), and with a lot to learn, we as parents are put in the enviable position of teaching them. They need to learn different things at different stages of their maturing and growing up, and as they pass from one phase to another, they want to learn in different ways.

Luckily, we have authors like Mike Berry (an adoptive father of eight) who is willing to share some of the truths and techniques that he has found during his parenting career. In Winning the Heart of Your Child: 9 Keys to Building a Positive Lifelong Relationship with Your Kids (Baker Books, 2019) There is a lot of helpful advice, which I like; and he’s managed to avoid the feeling that he’s the expert and we’re all helplessly and hopelessly lost- floundering in the seas of toddler, tween, teen, and young adult.

The reason that he makes this book work is that he is so open and transparent about his own issues with parenting- both on the receiving end, and as a parent. Its not so much ‘this is what you should do’ as it is ‘this is my default position-it rarely if ever has worked, and this has worked better in our family.

There are ‘pros’ to winning an argument, but there are also ‘cons’, and Berry discusses those as a lead-in to setting boundaries. And of course, if you’re anything like every other child in the country you probably know parents like those he describes as Gilmore Girls, Buddy the Elf, General Patton and Mr Strickland.

The core of the book are the 9 keys that he discusses in Part II, “Parenting for the Win”.  Most the things he talks about are things that common sense should tell us, but as manner of us have learned over the years, common sense isn’t always all that common. These keys remind us about consistency, influence, involvement along with love, listening and legacy.

All in all, this is a great read for parents on any stage of the journey. It’s better to start early, but very rarely is it too late to get started investing in tomorrow’s relationship with your children

I received a copy of this book as a member of the publisher’s bloggers program. I was not required to write a positive review.

5/5