Sara Dimerman

Early Reviewers Book Review

This book was not what I expected. This book did not explain the best way to handle a screaming 3 year old or an angry teenager. This book is about how the parent feels, and how other parents feel in any given situation with a child. It was VERY refreshing. I am the mother of a 7 year old. While I feel like I am a good mother, I often think about situations that have occurred with my son and thought, "Did I do that wrong?" How would someone else handle this?" It show more was very nice to read about other parents and how they dealt with the EXACT same situations I was concerned with. This is an excellent book for all parents, or anyone wanting to become parents. It is also an easy read and quickly finished. There is a bountiful amount of information in very few pages. show less

Wow, with a title like this, who WOULDN'T read it? My only question before beginning this book was whether the author made any judgments about whether "normal" behavior was actually beneficial.

I'm grateful to report that even though she more than adequately covers nearly EVERY parental question imaginable, with data from families in both Canada and the United States (as well as families that have recently immigrated from India and China, among other places), she doesn't hesitate to chastise show more some very common parental faux pas. I find this refreshing and encouraging.

This book is really great, and would be a terrific gift for a new parent, as well as those farther along the parental path. I highly recommend it. show less

This book was reassuring in some ways because I found out that, yes, I am a normal parent. It is good to know that the feelings I experience are not abnormal, or exceptionally horrible. It is also clear and easy to read. However, after reading it, I don't think I want to be a normal parent. I want to be better than that. While it is very nice to know that I am more than likely a "good enough" parent, I don't want to continue to experience the frustrations and anger that have become such a show more common part of my life since both my girls entered adolescence. So, seeking to be a more peaceful and calm parent, I found another book, by Kazdin, about raising defiant children and that book has helped me immensely. No, things aren't perfect yet, but they certainly are easier. I wish I could remember the complete title, but I can't find it at the moment. I suppose I also need yet another book on home organization! show less

As a homeschooling mother of 4 children under 5 I would imagine that I am not a normal parent by society's standards. However, according to Sara Dimerman's, "Am I a normal parent?" I just might be.

Ms. Dimerman is a married psychologist and mother of two living in Canada. Included in her book are 50 questions to help you decide if you are indeed a normal parent----the books 155 pages should help you decide if you WANT to be.

Test questions that are answered within the book include:
Do you ever show more feel like running away from home?
If you answered yes, you are not alone, a whopping 62 percent of parents admitted that they had thought of running away from their responsibilities at home, even for just one night.

Also included in the questionaire are questions concerning the appropriate age to walk to school alone, tell you (rather than ask permission) to go out, own an ipod/cell phone, stop sleeping in the same bed with parents of the opposite sex, be left alone in the house, and be allowed to drink alcohol in the home.

Surprisingly, I was again in the "norm" to the ipod and cell phone question as age 10 was the youngest and age 18, the oldest to be granted these items. Looking around the malls in the US I wonder if mostly Canadian parents were polled, or if in fact parents believed this notion while doing the opposite with their own parents due to "parental peer pressure"? According to Ms. Dimerman's research 33% of parents do change their opinions based on what other parents are condoning.

Ms. Dimerman's book is light and easy read. While you won't gleam any strong parenting advice or solve any of your parental dilemas it is interesting to see how your own beliefs fall within the "norm". You may be comforted to know you aren't the only one having a bad day and struggling with balancing your own personal desires with those of your child!

Parents who have thoughts of prefering one child over another, resenting parenthood, or being afraid that they might physically harm their child might indeed find some comfort in knowing they are sadly not alone.

In my opinion this is not a parenting book so much as a book of interesting parenting statistics. For that reason I gave it 3 stars. show less