Family Briefs

When I was given the opportunity to participate in a blog tour for the book, You’re Not the Boss of Me by Betsy Brown Braun, I was immediately interested.  The subtitle, “Brat-proofing your 4- to 12-year-old child” screamed out for me to jump in - with four kids, aged 3, 5, 7, and 10, I SO needed to read this book.   My 10-year-old thinks he knows more than God, and I’ve renamed my 3-year-old “Sassafras” because of her persistent sassy-ness!

Betsy Brown Braun offers pages of thoughtful parenting advice in easy-to-understand parenting language.  What she says really makes sense for the parenting issues we each face.   She begins with instructions on how to use the book (which I LOVE):  “begin with the chapter whose subject matter interests you the most . . . read the chapter, absorb the information . . . .work on that one trait until you feel comfortable  with the suggested techniques . . . you just can’t rush the parenting process, nor can you master it all in one sitting.”

I think we often read through parenting books, grabbing at whatever little tidbits we can to try to implement everything into our parenting to immediately make things better.  We become overwhelmed and frustrated.   When the newly-learned parenting techniques don’t work, we toss up our hands at “another failed attempt.”  Braun is wise to offer this advice in the preface to her book.

Each chapter begins with no-nonsense information about the particular skill you want to work on (empathy, responsibility, honesty, respect, etc.), including how children develop around this skill.  Then you’ll find a list of “Tips and Scripts” for working on a particular skill.    I LOVE this “quick reference” part of her book.  I can go back and remind myself of something with just the bold print of each tip or find the tip I need to work on and read the short paragraph relating to that specific tip.

For example, the chapter on respect (the chapter I started with)  includes tips and scripts such as:

• Substitute the word “respectful” for the word “appropriate”
• Allow your child to disagree with you
• Respond to rule- and limit- breaking calmly but with authority
• Saying nothing can be a powerful response
• Speak to the behavior, not the child
• and many more!

I have a feeling I will keep this book on my nightstand and refer to it on a daily basis!  There are so many realistic ideas and suggestions that it should be easy to find something that works for each of my four children, even Ms. Sassafras!

I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour campaign by Mom Central on behalf of HarperCollins and received a copy of You’re Not the Boss of Me to facilitate my review. Mom Central also sent me a gift certificate to thank me for taking the time to participate.

Without fail, more than one child will tell me to ask the bank teller for however many suckers are needed to go around for the number of children in the car (they never ask for one for me).

We’ve always called them suckers. In fact, when they are chomping away at these sweet delights (breaking away bits and pieces of baby teeth as they go), I remind them that they are called SUCKERS - you’re supposed to just SUCK on them!

Today, as my 4- and 6-year olds are singing the “Hannah, Hannah, Fo Fannah, Banana, Nana” rhyme in the back seat (suckers in hand), I realized I should have called the treats from the bank lollipops from day one. There are a lot fewer words that rhyme with”lollipop,” and you won’t have to worry about the “F” word being one of them!

Yes, I said my book reviews would happen on Friday. Unfortunately, this week I didn’t plan in for the cub scout meeting on Friday night. I hope you haven’t been sitting at your computer waiting for this all day (yeah, right ).

I know I reviewed a dinosaur book last week and one just last month, but I’m afraid that’s what I’ve got for you again this week. At least Read the rest of this entry »

Almost there . . .

For a list of all Wordless Wednesday participants go here.

My husband cooks breakfast during the week. I handle lunches and suppers (except when I convince him that we should go out - not a difficult task if I suggest one of his favorite restaurants). So, we are both always on the lookout for new and delicious recipes to try.

My 5-year-old, the picky-eater in the family, had lots to say about food this week:

He called the deviled eggs Read the rest of this entry »

Sometimes, my oldest daughter (now 3) seems to talk incessantly. It’s like she has diarrhea of the mouth - “I’m talking and I can’t shut up!” Of course, I have no idea where she gets this from . . .

Sometimes she is perfectly content have a conversation all by herself. Other times, she must have a response. But if you choose to respond, be warned that she must be talking to you or you’ll be asked, “Was I talking to you?” (with great attitude, I might add).

This week, it’s all about her . . . . Read the rest of this entry »

Do your ears ever hurt? Do you think your brain is going to swirl right out of your head if you can’t just HAVE.A.SECOND.TO THINK.ABOUT.SOMETHING??? I swear I am in so much trouble when my one-year-old starts making sense out of her little language and I have FOUR talkers! She ALREADY jabbers enough to keep up with her blabber-mouth 3-year-old sister, but nonsense words are easier to tune out .

We are growing:
My 7-year-old son said, Read the rest of this entry »

Perhaps it’s the end of summer. It could be the intense heat. It could be waterpark withdrawal syndrome. It could be that I let us run out of York Peppermint Patties. SOMETHING has brought on a major case of the “whinies” at our house this week.

I’m struggling to come up with some “cute” tiny talk to share with you. Mostly what I recall hearing was, “No! I don’t waaaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnnt to!” or “Mooooooooooom! He’s copying me again!” or “Whyyyyyyyyyyyy do we have to clean up again?” None of it is cute, especially when it sounds like Read the rest of this entry »

While we were in Sandestin, Florida last week, there were lots of opportunities for unique Tiny Talk. I jotted down my favorites so I could blog about it upon my return.

I’m so glad Mary hosts this carnival - I found that I was really tuned in to the cute things the kids were saying (instead of Read the rest of this entry »

I found this neat carnival over at Mary’s and really liked the idea of recording some of the cute conversations and toddler language of our children.

They grow up so fast, and it’s so easy to forget the sweet little words they have before they can really “talk” (at which point Read the rest of this entry »