Customer Reviews

Living Joyfully With Children

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When I first read Living Joyfully with Children, I was single and seriously dating a wonderful woman who is now my wife. I read the book to gain insights into parenting and to become more open to the possibility of being a parent. The idea of being a parent truly inspired fear. My hope was that in reading this book, that fear could be eliminated and replaced with a joyful expectancy for parenting.

Well, I was thrilled and moved when I read this masterpiece and my hopeful expectations were far surpassed. This is a treasure chest of insights, principles, and tools for what I'm now certain will be an amazing parenting adventure.

The interesting thing to me is that I really expected this book to be solely for parents, grandparents, and guardians of children. But I discovered the vast scope of this book covered far more than the obvious. This is a book about living a joyful life, about understanding and discarding old incorrect beliefs and replacing them with what is really true. It is a book for grown-up children to help them understand their particular upbringing and why they're carrying baggage from their past.

Reading Living Joyfully with Children helped me have compassion for my loving parents and understand that they did the very best they could with what they knew at the time. The principles and tools in the book actually helped me make necessary corrections in my own conditioning and gain much freedom from my past.

I recently began rereading Living Joyfully with Children, because my wife and I are thinking seriously about starting a family. I felt a refresher course was in order, and I wanted to remind myself of the prospect of joyful parenting. I'm discovering a whole new world of information. It's like reading a different book! Reading it more than once is definitely a good idea.

My conclusion is that this book is clearly not just for parents, grandparents, and caregivers of children. This book is a wonderful tool for anyone who has ever been a child!

I highly recommend this book as necessary reading for all teachers and parents. The authors' shared insights into how to nourish our children's self-esteem, to honor their natural rhythms, avoid the pitfalls of power struggles and self-blame, and to practice good self-care for ourselves and our adult relationships all help answer the question: "How can we live more joyfully with our children?"

I must add that, as a parent and as a teacher, I am very concerned with the increasing pressure put on children these days. The clear emphasis is on making them do more, do it earlier, and do it as perfectly as possible. All eyes are glued on standardized test scores and admissions to "the best schools". Yet so little attention is placed on the overall wellness of the child. However, as authors Bill and Win Sweet make clear, real success in life (i.e. the ability to flourish and cope sucessfully with adversity) depends on a healthy emotional core and on humane, sensible approaches to Life's many challenges -- both of which have little to do with pushing children to their breaking point. It is my hope that all who read this book will be inspired to make the choices that will create greater joy in their own lives and those of their children.

Linnaea Avenell, parent, teacher, and author/webmaster ...

Every parent and potential parent will benefit from reading about the authors' life experiences in how to be a real parent. And so much family disharmony, pain and unhappiness could be avoided, if they only knew the message of joyful parenting and honoring the true Self of children. The authors could not be more right that "children are naturally cheerful" and it is parenting that interferes with that natural cheerfulness. The insights in this book are well explained in the Epilogue when the authors acknowledge their debt to their wonderful parents who gave them a "happy and loving childhood." This is the highest praise that any child can give its parents. I hope that this book is read widely for it is more than deserving of being widely read by parents and future parents, and I will certainly do what I can do to spread the word.

Within this book lie secrets to loving, harmonious relationships with our children that I never could have dreamed of before I met Win and Bill Sweet. In fact, I think you have to be craving a revolution in parenting to be able to ingest these secrets, digest them, and make them part of you. You have to be willing to give up everything you ever thought was true about what you're supposed to do as a parent and about what's important . . . willing to say, "My gosh, I was wrong," and then turn 180 degrees and reframe everything you've been doing. This isn't just a book with pretty ideas and cute examples. It's a guide to freedom for both parents and children in the homes of those adults who can grasp its secrets and make them a way of life. How do I know? I went through the revolution guided one-on-one by Win and Bill long before they wrote the book. My children are 16 and 11 now, and life with them is full of laughter and joy and mutual support. Thank you, Win and Bill . . . bless your hearts.

"Living Joyfully With Children" is an easy read of short essays--perfect for busy parents. Chapters treat specific subjects thoughtfully, developing logic and principles for living, and keeping the goal of joyful living always in sight--without glossing over the work and serious concerns everyone meets along the way. The Sweets give an upbeat perspective and offer convincing personal examples that it can be done!

Choose a chapter for ideas on a topic, for example: "Crying: When Is It O.K., and When Is It Not?" / "All Those Lessons" / or "The Holidays Are Coming!" In "crying," the Sweets develop the idea of crying as a safety valve, an important element in a positive life, not a negative as one is apt to feel when actually dealing with a crying child. Their deciding principle is that crying is ok for all-age children, both boys and girls. They conclude, "If following the principle results in unbearable crying or yelling, get earplugs."

In dealing with "all those lessons," their perspective gained in 30 years of parenting, and now grandparenting, helps a parent today to trust the kids. Jill and Jim, the Sweet's children, were going to over 3 outside lessons in addition to schooling when Win decided for the sake of sanity and reducing the to-and-fro-ing to cut some lessons for each child and gave them their choice. To her surprise, the kids chose to give up all lessons and went to no extra, scheduled activities. After 2 years, Jill started a more joyful approach to organ, and Jim later owned a horse. They didn't drop out of society or turn into vegetables. The story is an inspiration.

An honest treatment of holiday times also helps focus on joy in the chaos of gifts, traditions that must be observed, and forced happiness. "Fast forward to January 2," they say, "and think what you would consider to be happy memories, then use those ideas in your planning." The Sweets have developed a tradition of macaroni and cheese for Christmas-eve dinner, originally a kids' choice, which now adds joy to the times.

The Sweets were radical in home schooling their 2 children through the elementary years, and the success of their approach gives authenticity to the principles they discovered, followed, and present here. The book is not about home schooling, but in that situation, they had more than average contact time with their young children, and one senses that it would have to be a joyful time or it couldn't have gone on for so long. A friend said he could imagine what his wife would say if he came home one day and said, "Dear, wouldn't you like to keep the boys home all day with you and teach them yourself?"

The Sweets had fun with their children and still do today, now that Jim is an engineer and Jill a computer scientist turned mother. Their essays in "Living Joyfully With Children" reflect on childhood and teenage life (drugs and chores are discussed), in their own family and others. They made a conscious decision to do things for fun, and not just because "it's good for you." They didn't wait to be grandparents to enjoy their children. It is their ongoing story, and one worth the read today.

Our challenge as parents is to cherish the childrens zest for life and incorporate it into a joyous atmosphere in the home. So say authors Win & Bill Sweet in their amazing new parenting guidebook, Living Joyfully with Children. Here are a series of essays that move us away from traditional, culture-driven attitudes and worries about children, and into the freedom to discover true Self.

Living Joyfully with Children speaks to all the facets of life and growing up in that life. We learn that its ok for children to play, in fact, thats their job. And its ok to cry (how many of us have admonished our children, Dont cry?). How should we use the word, no? Why is it important to care for mom? What is the difference between educating and programming your child?

Win & Bill Sweet ask and answer the questions all good parents pose. Living Joyfully with Children is a how-to book filled with invaluable, straight-forward and deep wisdom. Another wonderful example is found in Chapter 23---Expectations. What should we expect from our child? You can enjoy the magic of your children as you set yourself and your children free of the expectations of what they should be doing according to the culture. This freedom releases them to be who they are.

Living Joyfully with Children is all about that freedom. Principle-centered parenting brings freedom and confidence to families and Win & Bill Sweet offer an unpretentious means to family living in this easy-to-use guidebook. This reviewer wishes it had been around when my children were growing up!

It is my sincere desire to find the perfect words to do justice to the most remarkable book, Living Joyfully with Children. I want the reader to fully grasp the significant and valuable insights that are presented in it. A great many parenting books come across my desk, but none have "grabbed a hold of me" as this one did. The Sweets have written a life-transforming book and after reading it, you will never look at your children the same way again.

Win and Bill Sweet have crafted a blueprint for principle-centered parenting based on their own experiences as parents and grandparents. This is no dry, psychological treatise on child behavior modification, but rather a heart-warming and true-to-life compilation of essays that illustrates the principles of parenting that the Sweets used in raising their own children. The Sweets feel an important family principle is the concept of true Self. The best gift we can give our children is the knowledge of their true Self. But what is the true Self? The true Self is the self that we cannot see in the mirror; it is our perfect reality and essence. By seeing our children as magnificent little people with an unconditioned innate sense of their true Self, we, as parents and caregivers, can relax and drop our fears for them and instead trust their sense of true Self to guide them.

Children seem to have an intuitive sense that operates as a positive factor in their lives. The Sweets most certainly stress that parents must wisely guide their little ones out of hazardous situations and see to their physical well-being, but by seeing them in this new way, the fear is no longer there. It becomes so crystal clear that to live joyfully with children one must live without fear for them. This may sound idealistic and simplistic, but the Sweets show us how practical and successful this approach is.

One of my favorite chapters in the book is entitled, "An Invisible Resource." Here the Sweets talk about the emotional core of children and how we can! strengthen and nourish it or wound and damage it through our parenting techniques. If a child's emotional core is intact, he can face the world and handle any curves that life may throw at him.

The love and respect that the Sweets have for all children exudes from their every word. They have elevated parenting to an art form and have unselfishly devoted their lives to helping parents achieve joy and harmony in their family lives. There are many pearls of wisdom in this "sweet" little book. My only regret is that it wasn't around when my children were little so both they and I could have benefited from it. There were times that I had tears in my eyes as I read a particular passage that struck an inner chord in me, because the heart and soul knows truth when it hears it.

Living Joyfully with Children is the parenting book for the new millennium. As we enter into this new era old concepts and views will be shattered as more enlightening and liberating ideas will seize our imaginations and show us how truly joyous family life can be. This is the book that will lead the way!

In my forties and pregnant for the first time. Therefore, have been very actively studying parenting philosophies over the past 8 months, both in theory and in practice. I've noticed that the people whose parenting I most admire and who seem the most successful to me, are the ones who are following the ideas from two books:

1. "Living Joyfully with Children" by the Sweets
2. "Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves" by Naomi Aldort.

I have been devouring these books! If you believe that parenting is (or will be) a spiritual journey with profound learning about life and about yourself, these are the best two books I have found. They are filled with both theory and practical application. Furthermore, if you are having a daughter, I highly recommend Christiane Northrup's book "Mother-Daughter Wisdom".

For nuts and bolts information and child development guidance, I recommend any of the Sears books, but you probably already know that.

The Sweets have done an elegant job of revealing the difference between the kind of "cultural programming" most people accept as good education and the true goal of allowing our children to develop naturally into who they truly are. The theme of JOY runs through the fabric of this book showing by example how we can live joyfully with our kids. Not as teachers, but as examples and facilitators that allow children to learn what they need when they are ready. "Instead of overdirecting, allow children to make their own discoveries and solve their own problems."

Win and Bill Sweet ask us to give children the same freedom we give the plants in our garden; we don't tell our flowers when to bloom, we trust that we have prepared the soil well, then we let nature handle the timing. So with children. Each child has its own special rhythm of readyness of walking, talking or reading, the Sweets tell us, and our real work is to honor this rhythm in joy. In contrast, the culture tells us that it knows more about your child's rhythm of readyness than you or your children do. How silly. The Sweets show us how to step out of the cultural line and pay more attention to our children and less to what other people may think of us.

This book is recommend reading for anyone who suspects that our culture of consumerism, advertising, television and competition is teaching the wrong values. Living Joyfully with Children offers the tools a family needs to find the fun in life and get free of the puppet-string demands our society makes on us and our children. Although not a religious book, there is a sense of higher learning in the Sweet's work that stays with a person after the reading is over. If you are looking for a better, more joyful way of life for your family, this book will mean a great deal to you.

This is probably the best parenting book I've ever read, and I've read a lot of them. They bring out in the open a lot of ideas that I've felt about parenting and what I aspire to as a parent. Raising my child in a way that will honor who she is and nurture her to the best of my ability has always been my goal. The Sweet's give you steps and tips to achieve this goal especially when you're feeling overwhelmed with everything "out there" that can get in the way of your parenting plan.

I just hope they can put together an audio book so I can get my husband, a non-reader, to "read" it.

I've only read the book once so far, but plan to read it again, and again when I need some help.