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

I'm not a big fan of the parenting book genre, but every once in a while I'll come across one that's useful. This book fits my philosophy of laid back parenting that aims to treat children with respect, resolve conflicts peacefully, and allow them to grow independently to be who they are. It's full of practical strategies to deal with difficult situations--bedtime, sibling conflicts, cleaning up, etc.--that too often find me drifting toward yelling rather than the calm I strive for.

Written by a former teacher, this book is a very clear and thorough guide to using behavioral strategies with your child. Many of the strategies, my fiance and I already use with our daughter, but hadn't really thought of them as strategies per se, such as praising the things she does right already, or having her repeat an action that goes amiss (e.g. Bella slams the door, and we say, "Go back and shut it again the right way," which Janis-Norton would call an 'Action Replay', but I just thought of it as that thing I do that my mom also did when I was little.

We especially like the sections in which she discusses specific problem areas for families (for example, chores, or keeping a clean room, or bedtime), and tells you several show more strategies that you can use to improve that specific area. We have decided to some of these strategies, and will see how it goes! The book had a sympathetic, yet firm and practical approach with many, many examples. I would recommend it to any parent of kids between about the ages of 4 and 12. show less

The biggest challenge with this book is applying the concepts. They sound very positive, realistic and doable but some things sound a lot easier than it is. Primarily because we as parents have fallen into bad habits like lecturing or yelling which does not give us desired results. With practice, I think our family could successfully use these strategies to improve our family dynamics (and lower the adults' blood pressure when a kid yells "No!" at us!)

Janis-Norton helpfully explains in detail how to use the strategies to get your kids to do what you want them to do the first time. One that is truly useful and builds up a child's self esteem and sense of empowerment is noting aloud to them every time you notice them doing something show more positive or closer to the way you want them to behave. Not just stereotypical praise like "good job" but a detailed, objective comment like "when you pick up all your toys off the floor, you can walk across the floor without tripping on anything".

The book is clear and easy to read and I have already recommended it to several of my mom friends. It's just a matter of training ourselves to utilize the strategies consistently. This book gives me hope that parenting will eventually be calmer, easier, and happier (hopefully before they -or I- move out of the house!) show less

First off, a minor nitpick that got to be really annoying - the title needs to be turned into an acronym. She repeats "Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting" so much it seems like it takes up half the book. CEHP would have been far easier to read. As for the actual content and recommendations, they're sound. In my experience (kids ages 2, 4, 6 and 8) some have worked better than others but it's only been a month or so and it's hard to remember to implement all of the suggestions. Like many parenting books I've read, the author is a little too confident of their strategies working miracles. As parents know, each child is different and the success of her methods have varied.

In the end, a great deal of useful suggestions are covered in this show more 400+ page book. Fortunately, the index lets me refer back to certain topics as the need arises. show less

The Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting technique is made up of several methods that may sound familiar or too good to be true, but these methods are time-tested and effective. Parents really can have cooperative kiddos. It just requires having the right tools at their disposal and practicing them regularly. This book outlines a number of those tools and gives many practical examples. Some of the methods may sound like they are common sense, but they do require some preparation and practice to be deployed effectively. Too many parents get frustrated and result to shouting or nagging because they don't take the time and thought to approach things in the best way for their kids and for themselves. This is a highly practical read and very show more accessible. Highly recommended to all parents or parents-to-be! show less

Full disclosure - I only got about halfway through the book. I enjoyed the part I did read, but I felt like it was too much to try to implement all at once. I've used a few of the techniques, probably not quite to the full extent advised, and had good results.
The author is a good writer - I hope she'll write further books, but I advise a shorter / more concise format.

I can't review the entire book yet, but what I've read so far is useful. I love the author's suggestion to read the first chapter of ideas and then put the book down for a week or two to practice those suggestions until they become habit. Then add the next tool into your arsenal.

The first set of suggestions has worked okay for our family so far, although I haven't seen the dramatic results that some of the parents quoted in the book did. On to the second chapter and a new suggestion...