Customer Reviews

Parking Lot Rules & 75 Other Ideas for Raising Amazing Children

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This helpful book has loads of specific parenting tips from a dad that obviously cares for his kids.

There are 76 ideas here, each one quite practical and easy to implement. For example, #7 is Almost Always Skip the First Thing That Comes to Mind. Hey, I could use that with my husband! Another Post-it-worthy one is #45: Your Child Has to Know Where You Are. How many of us forget that? I know I do. I almost always know where my daughter is, but she often has to track me down.

Each rule covers a couple of pages, and includes an example or two taken from real life. If you're like me, you'll find yourself using the ideas right away.

One quibble: The book has a whiff of cheapness, especially given that it's from a major publisher. The few photos are horribly reproduced black and white images that look Xeroxed.

Here's the chapter list:

1. Every Day: Ways to keep your children safe, healthy, respected and cherished, every day
2. Communicating With Your Children
3. Manners Matter
4. No Lost Children
5. Disciplines and Punishments
6. Pain Happens, Now What?
7. Play Sports, Period

As a soon-to-be first time parent, I bought this book based on a reprint of one of the rules within BestLife Magazine. The book offers some useful parenting advice and tips- such as the 'Parking Lot Rule' but some of the other rules seem too protective of the child. While it may simply be a difference in parenting styles, some of the rules make it seem that children should be treated as delicate objects and suggest isolating them from ANY type of outside harm (emotional, physical, etc.) .

For example, one of the rules had to do with dealing with the child being in a embarrassing situation- such as toilet paper on the shoe, or a open pants zipper. Tom Sturges suggests that you should ask the child "If your zipper was down would you want me to tell you?" as a way to alert them to the situation without directly addressing it. I understand that you probably wouldn't want to point and laugh at your child in front of a crowd- but I also don't see the harm of pulling the child aside and whispering "Hey, your zipper is down" or using humor to diffuse the situation.

Other than a few of these overly cautious rules, the rest of the book offers useful tidbits and rules that I'm hoping to use as a parent.

New parents might not know it yet, but they will be running for this book for years to come! Tom Sturges does a masterful job of giving parents constructive ways to handle situations through wit, charm, new ideas and phrases and even great questions that will spark conversation no matter what the age of the child. It will turn troubled times into wonderful memorable moments.

Really enjoyed the simple rules laid out in this book. My wife and I are raising three wonderful children ages 10,10 & 11 and found the ideas practiful for their ages now and in the near future.

I recently purchased this book based on a article that was written in "Best Life" magazine. The article had several excerpts from the book that I found to be simple and obvious, but profound at the same time. Mr. Sturges has a great perspective on dealing with children, one that I think many of us lose sight of as we get older and perhaps more jaded about everything; life, kids, work, spouse...
This book will remind you of how to be a great parent to your children, the parent you envisioned yourself being before he or she was born.
If that isn't enough, Mr. Sturges's ideas are easily utilized in dealing with everyone around you; the book gives simple lessons on how to be a better parent, but these lessons easily translate into being a better person toward everyone around you.
Highly recommended, easy reading, easy to remember lessons, enjoy...

For a single dad, this book is amazing. I find this book great in terms of content as well as layout. It definitely is worth reading and applying.

Got this book from Amazon 2 days ago. It is slightly less than a month since I made my online purchase. True to its claim, the book was new and arrived at my home in tip top condition!! Cheers. Thanks Amazon!!
I have never purchased online for books prior to this, will definitely continue to make my purchases of books from Amazon.

I used to read a lot of parenting books, but when you have two kids, who has the time? I picked up Parking Lot Rules because it doled out advice in a way I could easily digest it -- in quick and easy-to-read lessons and essays.

I wouldn't say there was anything revolutionary in the book in terms of advice -- some of the earliest recommendations were common sense and almost laughable, like reminding your kids to pull back their hands when you close the door by saying, "Fingers, fingers!" every time you shut the door. However, I have closed my son's hand in the door before, so maybe that advice isn't so common sense. But I digress..

I did take two good recommendations from the book, though: Once seen, never unseen -- meaning that once your kids see something horrible on TV or in the news, you can never get that slice of innocence back for them. The other advice that resonated with me? "It's almost never a good idea to say the first thing that pops into your head." This is true in business, in relationships, and especially in raising children. I have to fight that instinct a lot, especially when I'm frustrated with my kids, but I've started reminding myself of that sage advice.

The book is full of little nuggets like these that might be helpful, and at least inspire some reflection. I wouldn't say its a fantastic read, but it's worth picking up for some quick parenting idea sharing.

Parking Lot Rules was recommended to me by a friend and I'm so glad I took the advice. This book has numerous ideas which are easily implemented into your everyday routine. Ideas that will help your children become better people. There are also numerous safety ideas that have already helped me keep track and corral in my two young boys. Simple rules that they repeat everywhere we go to remind themselves where we are and what to do if we get separated. Neat stuff! Take a gander and take from it some important new ways of thinking!

I sent this book to my married sons for Fathers Day. They have expressed how much they have enjoyed reading the book and that it has many great ideas for raising their children.