Living Joyfully With Children (Paperback)

~ Win Sweet (Author), Bill Sweet (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 188 pages
• Publisher: Acropolis Books (GA); 1st edition (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1889051179
• ISBN-13: 978-1889051178
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #882,370 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book is wonderful for anyone who has ever been a child!, November 1, 2000

By	M. Goodrich (Sherman Oaks, CA) - See all my reviews

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!

12 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Living Joyfully With Children, April 22, 2000

By	Linnaea Avenell (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews

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 ...

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to benefit every parent and potential parent., September 12, 1999

By A Customer

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.