Parenting Books, Blogs, and Podcasts

3/12/22

A good parenting book teaches us so much: not only how to care for our children in a way that helps them meet challenges and nurtures their strengths, but how to care for ourselves, how to understand what our own parents may have done well or not so well, and how to communicate our own boundaries and needs with adults in our lives.

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My 4 Favorite Books:

1. Between Parent and Child by Haim Ginott. This is a classic and so helpful in thinking about what kids need from us: compassionate listening, and what they don't need: being told how to feel or how to solve their own problems. If you get an older edition be aware it needs a feminist update.

2. How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. This book further expounds on Haim Ginott's approach above. 

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3. Siblings Without Rivalry by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish. This book grew out of parenting group that explored the parents' own painful experiences of being compared unhelpfully to their siblings growing up. 

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4. Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids: How to Stop Yelling and Start Connecting by Laura Markham. This books focuses on the importance of connecting with our kids as a primary way of influencing their behavior.

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Podcasts:

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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/15/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-janet-lansbury.html

I love this discussion on boundaries and tolerating strong emotions.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2022/02/11/opinion/ezra-klein-podcast-johann-hari.html

This discussion of the different types of attention clarified for me the importance of protecting attention as one of most valuable resources.

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Blogs:

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I've been delving into Janet Lansbury's work since listening to Ezra Klein's podcast above. She has a great sense of how to assert boundaries with kids with firmness and gentleness, and the importance of using boundaries to protect our kids from getting on our nerves. https://www.janetlansbury.com/

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