Customer Reviews

Laying Down the Law: The 25 Laws of Parenting to Keep Your Kids on Track, Out of Trouble, and (Pretty Much) Under Control

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1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're looking for a "squeezy, feely" book about how to get your children to be "good people", this is not the book for you. But if you're having problems getting your children to do homework, clean their rooms, do chores, and generally behave, Dr. Peters has a lot of good advice for you.

Peters takes a real life approach to raising children. We have a society that rewards good behavior and punishes bad behavior. We get paid for work, we go to jail for breaking the laws. She proposes that we set up this same philosophy at home.

The main theme of the book is that a parent is a "benevolent dictator". No matter how much you want to be your children's friend, your job is to be their parent, to discipline them, to get them to do the right thing, even if they do not understand the philosophical reasons for doing this.

For example, education. She says that a child is not going to understand the value of an education versus being popular. They will, however, understand that they will receive rewards when they get good grades and be punished when they get bad grades.

And her ideas for rewards and punishments are very sound too. We have been using the "chip" system she suggests in the book and it is working splendidly. Children are rewarded for having a "good day" with poker chips that can be cashed in for money, clothing and electricity. Yes, television, video games and even radio time must be paid for. And punishment includes giving away prized possessions to homeless shelters and other children's programs. Yet, knowing that children do not always behave, there is leeway to misbehave "some" and still have a "good day."

This is the best child rearing book I have found in a long time, and I will keep it by my bedside for years to come.

I got this book off my local bookstore shelf and drove right in. I have one daughter of my own and 2 step children. The Step kids have NOT had ANY discipline from their birth mother and were disrupting my calm and structured household. My main concern was that these kids behaviors would be taught to my well mannered and polite daughter. I had to do something and FAST! These children had no concept of earning their privilidges or listening skills and my new husband and I were going NUTS! I went to the book store for help and this book was a GOD sent! It is not for the timid or people without a backbone. You must be able to Lay down the law and follow through will all consequences "with teeth" every time. Kids need consistenancy and rules. Ms. Peters outlines how to do this and how to get the kids moving and moving NOW, with timers and teaching kids the work ethic and rewards for choosing good behavior. I recommend this book to all parents who have the ability to really take a hard look at themselves and are ready to make some difficult changes in their own behavior for the benefit of thier children. Read it - it's excellent!

Everything that Dr. Peters says in this book appears to be common sense, yet I know very few people that actually act like this. She lays down a very simple framework about what our children should and shouldn't do, and it is an extremely helpful guide.

The format is very straightforward. The beginning of each chapter spells out what the law is. She adds a "real life"story about inappropriate behavior, and she follows up with how you can truly get good behavior again.

As a busy mother, I found the book easy to get through, and not too clinical.

The only thing I didn't like was some parts of her chapter on bullying. Some of her ways to stop the child from being bullied seemed to be a bit off target. Otherwise, this is a great book on parenting.

This book is somewhat disappointing to me. It is well organized, concise, to the point, and useful as a book to keep parents on the right track.

However, I found it to be lacking in real details about certain issues with kids. It also is not a real gripping read; I found myself skimming the chapter more than obsorbing what they really said. It would have been more helpful to me if it had greater detail and methods for dealing with kid issues like discipline and the middle school ages.

I recommend books by John Rosemond that give me a little more substance than this book.

Wonderful book it helps understand the behavior of children and give excellent ideas on how to mange a strong will child, Thank you.

"Laying Down the Law" does not seem to be too popular with parents these days. Makes you wonder why they're mystified when their children go awry. This book is a wonderful tool that educates and helps you be the parent your child needs.

As I parent I couldnt get through the first chapter. I'll stick with my kinda discipline