Although I do occasionally enjoy spirituality (like Yearnings) or personal productivity books (a la GTD), I’m not a big fan of parenting books. The ones I’ve flipped through or read never seem to dovetail with either the our parenting philosophy or with the particular issues we tend to face with our children.
That’s why I was surprised to enjoy Screamfree Parenting by Hal Edward Runkel as much as I did.
I first learned about Screamfree Parenting via Baby Toolkit:
When it gets to actual kid behavior scenarios, consequences play a major role (but in ways that are fresh). This makes the book slightly less useful for parents of young toddlers (too young to fully understand consequences), BUT the parenting attitude philosophies can help ALL parents regardless of their child’s age.
The heart of Screamfree Parenting seems to me threefold, and deceptively simple. First, you can’t focus effectively on your kids if you never focus on yourself. Second, issues with your kids are almost never about your kids, but about you. And third, you are not responsible for your kids; you are responsible to your kids. The book gives some applicable scenarios and describes how to stay “calm and connected” as you engage with your kids.
Like anything parenting-related, Screamfree Parenting is no panacea; you still have to do the hard work. But Runkel’s book provided this parent with a good angle of perspective and a helpful reminder to stay cool.
More from around the cloud:
