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235 of 244 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TRANSFORM TERRIBLE TWOS, February 7, 2004
This review is from: Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years (Paperback)
Are you a parent of a child six years or younger? Do you find that Calgon can't take you quite far enough away from parenting woes? Have you shed tears over behavior exhibited by your angel-turned-hellion? If so, this book is for you. Having personally shed tears over my two-year-old daughter's colorful displays of strong will, I picked up this book that I've had since before she was born. Being that she was such a wonderful baby, I naively figured we'd skate through the "terrible twos" and that they wouldn't be terrible at all. While I wouldn't globally say that from 18 months until now has been terrible, it's been more challenging. That's where logic comes in. This book is particularly helpful to those of us who don't tend to operate logically but react emotionally. It offers practical steps that when employed as recommended really work. The authors say that it's never too late or too early to start putting into practice the techniques. The book impresses the value of children experiencing the natural consequences of their actions (logic). Simultaneously, the authors encourage parents many times throughout the book to empathize with their children prior to disciplining (love). For example, Stella throws her food at lunch. Mom says, "That's so sad. Lunch is over now." Mom maintains her composure, puts an end to the behavior without lecturing and multiple warnings, and the child bears an immediate consequence for the behavior. According to the authors, children love to make choices so give them plenty. These choices, however, should be ones that make you happy and don't bother "anyone else on the planet." For example, Dad asks, "Would you like milk or juice for lunch? Or would you like to go to bed now or in five minutes?" Whatever the child decides, having soda for lunch is not an option. Likewise, not going to bed is not an option. The approach presented in the book may sound lightweight to some but actually is quite strict and gives children effective boundaries. The ultimate goal of using the Love and Logic techniques: raise responsible children that respect authority, have a positive self-concept, and who are able to make wise independent decisions now and throughout life. When I started trying the "experiments" outlined in the book, I witnessed immediate results with our daughter. Being the type that needs things spelled out for me, the specific steps accompanied by numerous examples in the book helped me grasp the principles easily. The book has also helped me breathe easier. After feeling distraught and certain we were failing miserably as parents, I now feel renewed by a sense of joy and hope. Yes, the book has that much power. The challenge now is to be quicker on my feet with good choices. My husband and I have said some of the most ridiculous things in an effort to give our daughter choices we'll be happy with. It's good comic relief for otherwise tense and frustrating moments. Note: About halfway through the book, the authors offer a three-step suggestion for disciplining children three and younger (when reasoning is more difficult). Also, I have yet to do so, but it would probably be helpful to read the original Parenting With Love and Logic book as it explains the love and logic principles. THANK YOU TO THE AUTHORS FOR WRITING THIS BOOK!! YOU'VE TRANSFORMED THE TERROR OF TODDLERHOOD. YOU'VE ALSO PROMPTED ME TO HAVE FUN AND LIGHTEN UP. IF MY DAUGHTER COULD TELL YOU HERSELF, SHE'D SAY THANK YOU FOR HELPING MOM NOT BE SO UPTIGHT.
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126 of 128 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
If your preschooler is running your house...GET THIS BOOK!, July 30, 2003
By A Customer
This review is from: Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years (Paperback)
I saw Jim Fay in person at a parenting lecture and he was fabulous! He is warm, witty, and wise--as are his books. There are so many tips to chose from and we pick what seems right for us and each of our kids at the moment. Sometimes we found what works with one child is all wrong for his sister. Parenting with "love and logic" has relieved much of the daily stress and anger in our family. We seem to communicate in ways that result in more cooperation from my kids. I am so glad Jim has now written a book exclusively for the very challenging early years. Even the best parent with a preschooler occasionally wonders, "Who's really in charge here anyway?" I feel so incompetent sometimes...I appreciate the easy access organization of this book that enables me to get some quick advice along with some welcome reassurance that I'm not the only parent who has these problems. I recently found another "little" book that has hundreds of helpful tips and noticed that Jim Fay is quoted in it. "The Pocket Parent" is not written in paragraphs, but rather short bullets of friendly practical information organized into an A-Z format. It's so great to be able to quickly look up a troublesome behavior such as: biting, bedtime and mealtime refusals, lying, whining, tantrums, and "I hate you's," -- immediately finding some sensible ideas to try. The philosophies of both these books are very similar. Both books offer alternatives to yelling, bribing, threatening, critizing, and nagging that aren't working anyway! If you have a pre-schooler (2, 3, 4, or 5 years old) that is testing your sanity, I highly recommend "Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood" and "The Pocket Parent." Both books are helpful, humorous and worth keeping handy for when you need some quick advice or just some empathy on one of those really bad days when you think you are about to lose your mind!
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652 of 702 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A total waste if you have the original first book in series, December 12, 2002
This review is from: Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood: Practical Parenting from Birth to Six Years (Paperback)
I was very disappointed after reading this book and felt obligated to write a negative review since there are alreay so many other great reviews out here. I first read the borrowed book "Parenting with love and logic, teaching children responsibilities" by Jim Fay and Foster Cline, which was first published in 1990 and now is in 10th edition. I loved that book, therefore I searched in Amazon.com, wanting to buy one for myself. I then came across this one. Since I have two kids under the age of 2, I thought this book might be more suitable on offering techniques specific for younger children, so I ordered one. After finishing the entire book, I felt I wasted my money. It failed my expectation totally. Why? 1. This book offers nothing new, with much less content compared to its 'parent' book, the one I mentioned by Jim and Foster. 2. It's poorly designed and laid out in content. If you select any three pages from the entire book and read them, you will find the content of each page exactly talks about the same thing. Basically, you will find the author repeating the same words again and again, not necessarily for the purpose of emphasizing. It's simply very boring and repetitive. I would say that the intention of such repetition was for increasing its word count, but that would be too mean. 3. Don't be fooled, Jim Fay is NOT the first author, his son Charles is. 4. This is another typical money making driven scheme to profit off the successful original -- After making a great one, having a bunch of not so good, or even [bad] ones following in the same series. 5. If you still want to choose from "Love and Logic" series, get the original one I mentioned earlier. That's all you need ,and I personally don't think you need to buy any other one in this series.
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