Product Description

A critical view of the child care literature of the past quarter century argues for an end to overindulgent parenting and a return to the goal of instilling moral values, such as responsibility, respectfulness, and resourcefulness. Original.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #132910 in Books
• Published on: 1995-10-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Rosemond, who rails against dangerous, pervasive liberal parenting values and has, according to his publisher, 400,000 copies of his books in print, writes columns for mainstream magazines and newspapers and hosts a daily radio talk show. With such a following, he can hardly be the "heretic" he calls himself. Nor is there much revelatory material in his sixth book (after To Spank or Not to Spank), which promotes his beliefs that children want limits, must be taught that they are not the center of the universe and need to learn resourcefulness and responsibility. Rosemond dresses up this conventional wisdom in conservative rhetoric: blaming parental weakness or ambivalence on "ultraliberal social propaganda" (such as the anti-spanking movement), praising Rush Limbaugh and Phyllis Schlafly while vilifying Hillary Clinton and the National Education Association, and waxing rhapsodic about the good old days when no one considered blessing homosexual unions and when busy mothers were able calmly to tell their children, "Leave me alone." Rosemond seems not to understand that today's parents struggle with their authority because they are without a paradigm to replace the often despotic practices of their parents. There's plenty of wisdom here, but it's delivered in a self-congratulatory, often patronizing tone.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Confidently proclaiming himself a heretic opposed to democratizing the child-parent relationship, Rosemond presents his sixth parenting guide as a celebration of the American family of the 1950s and his contribution to a return to the commonsense values that characterized child rearing at that time. The middle section of the book, in which Rosemond advises on raising respectful, responsible, and resourceful children, gains its authority through encouraging parental self-confidence, common sense, and self-control. The initial section, however, with its frankly conservative analysis of social decline, school failure, and misguided parenting advice from experts, is not nearly as useful because it is both general in scope and inflammatory in tone. The final section provides specific answers to the most frequently asked questions. Rosemond is a frequent lecturer whose fans will enjoy his latest salvo, and even those who disagree with his philosophy will find this resource of his practical techniques for child rearing useful. Kathryn Carpenter

Customer Reviews

Exhausted by your children? Guilt plagued? Want to be happy again? Read this book now!
After having our third child in less than 3 years I felt like I was going to go out of my mind. We hired a maid to come in once a week because we didn't have time to cook, shower, eat a whole meal, etc, much less clean the house. We stocked up on "educational" DVD's so I could take care of the baby without the older girls getting into trouble and demanding my attention. We were going out of our mind trying to keep up with it all!

About a month into this I decided to ask our pediatrician if he could suggest any good books on child rearing and he said anything by John Rosemond. This is one of several books that I've read by him since and it's hands down my favorite book by him, and on raising children period. I was going crazy trying to take care of my kids and the house, but his advice on doing less, not more with your kids assuaged my guilt and saved my sanity! We have since laid off our maid as I clean and cook with the kids around. They know they have to play on there own when I'm busy now, but that I'll make time for them when I'm done. We've also cut the plug on our television and they're playing so much better now. They fight less, do more together and play well on there own. Their attention span has tripled and we don't even need the TV as a crutch because they're too busy imagining and creating new, fun things to do!

This book, or John Rosemonds 6 Point Plan for Happy Healthy Children should be required reading for all parents. His views are considered conservative, but as a liberal at heart, I have come to the conclusion that they're really all just plain common sense. John Rosemond, thank you for saving my sanity and for bringing peace and happiness back into our home.

All families have dysfunction....
but you don't need to remain totally in the dark and child centered.

Child-centered families leave nothing for children to aspire to, except continued whining and selfishness.

Become an adult and your children will naturally want to follow. Well, most will. Let the guilt go, and no longer suffer from GAS...God Almighty Syndrome.

back to the basics
This book has been very helpful for our family. My husband and I give this book to couples who ask us what we have done to have such respectful and well behaved children. We also give it to friends and families who are new parents. We absolutely love the teachings of John Rosemond and we have read several, if not all his books. I recommend this book to anyone who wants a respectful, resourceful, and responsible child.