When it comes to raising your children, how do you know what works? One way is to go to the kids themselves and ask them, which is exactly what researchers and authors Brent L. Top and Bruce A. Chadwick have done. Based on a major, ten-year study they conducted with more than 5,000 LDS teens and an additional 1,000 young adults, they have honed in on ten parenting principles that surfaced again and again in the happiest families. This book shares those principles in such chapters as Build a Household of Faith, Dare to Discipline, and Praise More Than You Criticize. Real-life examples and practical counsel make this an indispensable parenting resource.
Kevin Swanson-defining education as "the preparation of a child intellectually, emotionally, spiritually, and physically for life and for eternity"-says there are ten time-tested secrets to be learned in this regard.
From popular author and resident parenting expert on Channel 9's Parental Guidance Dr Justin Coulson, this book is a moving, inspiring and loving call to action for all parents. Parenting expert Dr Justin Coulson shares the ten things every parent needs to know to raise their children in positive ways. They are also ways to make parenting easier for you - so you don't have to keep 'making it up as you go along'. Drawing on positive psychology, the book gives simple and effective strategies for the main issues parents of 2-12 year olds confront in everyday family life. Justin shares his secrets of effective attention, communication and understanding; how to discipline effectively and set limits; and how to manage hot-button issues such as sibling conflict, chores, school and screens - yet still have fun as a family. Praise for Dr Justin Coulson 'Justin is a genius! His honest, compassionate and sensible advice is music to this mum's ears. I want him to adopt our family!' - Jessica Rowe, co-host, Studio 10 'Dr Justin Coulson is who I turn to when I'm feeling overwhelmed with parenting my three young (and frequently boisterous) kids. His calm, logical advice never fails to help me be a better parent.' - Bec Sparrow, author of Find Your Tribe 'If your aim is to be the best parent you possibly can, this is your go-to book.' - Madonna King, author of Being 14 'A wonderfully practical book that's bulging with heart, soul and wisdom. It's a book I'll definitely be recommending to my children, who are now parents themselves.' - Michael Grose, parenting expert and founder of Parenting Ideas
Inspiration for the motion picture streaming on Pure Flix! Drawing on her thirty years' experience practicing pediatric and adolescent medicine, teen health expert Dr. Meg Meeker explains why an active father figure is maybe the single most important factor in a young woman's development. In this invaluable guide, Meeker shows how a father can be both counsel and protector for his daughter as she grows into a spiritually and mentally strong young woman. From cradling his newborn to walking her down the aisle, a father must relish his paramount responsibility—guiding the course of his daughter’s life. Meeker reveals • how a man can become a "strong father" • how a father's guidance influences every part of a woman's life, from her self-respect to her perspective on drugs, alcohol, and sex • how to lay down ground rules that are respected without creating distance in your relationship with your daughter • why you need to be your daughter's hero • the mistakes most fathers make and their serious consequences • how to help daughters make their own good decisions and avoid disastrous mistakes • how a father's faith will influence his daughter's spiritual development • how to get through to you daughter, even during her toughest don't-talk-to-me years • true stories of daughters who were on the wrong path—and how their fathers helped to bring them back Learn how to grow, strengthen, or rebuild your relationship with your daughter to better both your life and hers in the bestselling Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters: 10 Secrets Every Father Should Know.
Outlines simple, counterintuitive approaches to raising happy, healthy, and successful children through parental demonstrations of respectful examples and child-directed activities that facilitate early independence and problem-solving skills.
With his stunning debut novel, She's Come Undone, Wally Lamb won the adulation of critics and readers with his mesmerizing tale of one woman's painful yet triumphant journey of self-discovery. Now, this brilliantly talented writer returns with I Know This Much Is True, a heartbreaking and poignant multigenerational saga of the reproductive bonds of destruction and the powerful force of forgiveness. A masterpiece that breathtakingly tells a story of alienation and connection, power and abuse, devastation and renewal--this novel is a contemporary retelling of an ancient Hindu myth. A proud king must confront his demons to achieve salvation. Change yourself, the myth instructs, and you will inhabit a renovated world. When you're the same brother of a schizophrenic identical twin, the tricky thing about saving yourself is the blood it leaves on your bands--the little inconvenience of the look-alike corpse at your feet. And if you're into both survival of the fittest and being your brother's keeper--if you've promised your dying mother--then say so long to sleep and hello to the middle of the night. Grab a book or a beer. Get used to Letterman's gap-toothed smile of the absurd, or the view of the bedroom ceiling, or the influence of random selection. Take it from a godless insomniac. Take it from the uncrazy twin--the guy who beat the biochemical rap. Dominick Birdsey's entire life has been compromised and constricted by anger and fear, by the paranoid schizophrenic twin brother he both deeply loves and resents, and by the past they shared with their adoptive father, Ray, a spit-and-polish ex-Navy man (the five-foot-six-inch sleeping giant who snoozed upstairs weekdays in the spare room and built submarines at night), and their long-suffering mother, Concettina, a timid woman with a harelip that made her shy and self-conscious: She holds a loose fist to her face to cover her defective mouth--her perpetual apology to the world for a birth defect over which she'd had no control. Born in the waning moments of 1949 and the opening minutes of 1950, the twins are physical mirror images who grow into separate yet connected entities: the seemingly strong and protective yet fearful Dominick, his mother's watchful "monkey"; and the seemingly weak and sweet yet noble Thomas, his mother's gentle "bunny." From childhood, Dominick fights for both separation and wholeness--and ultimately self-protection--in a house of fear dominated by Ray, a bully who abuses his power over these stepsons whose biological father is a mystery. I was still afraid of his anger but saw how he punished weakness--pounced on it. Out of self-preservation I hid my fear, Dominick confesses. As for Thomas, he just never knew how to play defense. He just didn't get it. But Dominick's talent for survival comes at an enormous cost, including the breakup of his marriage to the warm, beautiful Dessa, whom he still loves. And it will be put to the ultimate test when Thomas, a Bible-spouting zealot, commits an unthinkable act that threatens the tenuous balance of both his and Dominick's lives. To save himself, Dominick must confront not only the pain of his past but the dark secrets he has locked deep within himself, and the sins of his ancestors--a quest that will lead him beyond the confines of his blue-collar New England town to the volcanic foothills of Sicily 's Mount Etna, where his ambitious and vengefully proud grandfather and a namesake Domenico Tempesta, the sostegno del famiglia, was born. Each of the stories Ma told us about Papa reinforced the message that he was the boss, that he ruled the roost, that what he said went. Searching for answers, Dominick turns to the whispers of the dead, to the pages of his grandfather's handwritten memoir, The History of Domenico Onofrio Tempesta, a Great Man from Humble Beginnings. Rendered with touches of magic realism, Domenico's fablelike tale--in which monkeys enchant and religious statues weep--becomes the old man's confession--an unwitting legacy of contrition that reveals the truth's of Domenico's life, Dominick learns that power, wrongly used, defeats the oppressor as well as the oppressed, and now, picking through the humble shards of his deconstructed life, he will search for the courage and love to forgive, to expiate his and his ancestors' transgressions, and finally to rebuild himself beyond the haunted shadow of his twin. Set against the vivid panoply of twentieth-century America and filled with richly drawn, memorable characters, this deeply moving and thoroughly satisfying novel brings to light humanity's deepest needs and fears, our aloneness, our desire for love and acceptance, our struggle to survive at all costs. Joyous, mystical, and exquisitely written, I Know This Much Is True is an extraordinary reading experience that will leave no reader untouched.
Making conscientious choices about technology in our families is more than just using internet filters and determining screen time limits for our children. It's about developing wisdom, character, and courage in the way we use digital media rather than accepting technology's promises of ease, instant gratification, and the world's knowledge at our fingertips. And it's definitely not just about the kids. Drawing on in-depth original research from the Barna Group, Andy Crouch shows readers that the choices we make about technology have consequences we may never have considered. He takes readers beyond the typical questions of what, where, and when and instead challenges them to answer provocative questions like, Who do we want to be as a family? and How does our use of a particular technology move us closer or farther away from that goal? Anyone who has felt their family relationships suffer or their time slip away amid technology's distractions will find in this book a path forward to reclaiming their real life in a world of devices.
Reveals ten secrets to thriving as a woman in middle-age, including trusting God with life-impacting decisions, attaining peace with life changes, and choosing joy regardless of the obstacles in one's life.
Kids Life Coach, Zelna Zeal, sheds light on the painful issue of what it means to have a fundamental choice taken away. The choice of being a biological parent. In this eye opening snapshot of her views on life, parenting and childhood she whispers out loud the secrets which previously held her back from finding and living her purpose fully. This gripping and poignant book reveals the previously hidden story behind her lonely and challenging healing journey through being childless, depressed and labelled as mentally ill. As she travels this road, she shares the interwoven stories of other peoples' children that she had the privilege of coaching. All of them have two things in common. They rebranded their childhood by learning how to make better choices relating to the parts of their lives they were able to control. These children were also the inspiration behind Zelna finding the strength to do the same. Full of uncomfortable truths, "The Secret Parent" shows you that your real worth is derived from who you choose to be even when life has different ideas for you.
Every mom is concerned about her children and teenagers—their choice of friends and activities, their reluctance to talk, their dating life, their spiritual condition, and more. But when does legitimate care cross the line into fear and worry, which Scripture commands us to avoid? Popular speaker and author Cindi McMenamin shares from personal experience—and the wisdom gleaned from many other moms—how you can... be a mom who encourages rather than nags pray, love, and care for your children's needs and their futures replace your worries with peace and rest fully in God's strength Start now on the path to worry-free parenting—a path that leads to positive, affirming relationships between you and your kids!