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How Much Is Enough?: Everything You Need to Know to Steer Clear of Overindulgence and Raise Likeable, Responsible and Respectful Ch

How Much Is Enough?: Everything You Need to Know to Steer Clear of Overindulgence and Raise Likeable, Responsible and Respectful Ch
By Jean Illsley Clarke, Connie Dawson, David Bredehoft, Jean Clarke

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Product Description

All parents, regardless of age, income, or marital status, have the same goal—to do the best possible for their child. But despite one's good intentions, the life-enhancing abundance heaped on our children often becomes more than they need or can handle, and the line is crossed into overindulgence. In How Much is Enough?, best-selling parenting and family experts Clarke, Dawson, and Bredehoft offer an in-depth look at how damaging overindulgence is to children, affecting their ability to learn many of the important life skills they need to thrive as adults. In warm and empathetic language, the authors reveal the three different ways children are overindulged (giving too much, being over-nurturing, and providing soft structure), guide parents in determining whether they're doing something overindulgent, and show them how to do things differently. The truth is that overindulgence is not the badge of a bad parent; in fact, it comes directly from having a good and generous heart. Based on solid, groundbreaking research involving 1,200 parents and their children, How Much is Enough? gives parents the insight and advice they need to parent in an effective and loving way and put their children on track for a happy and successful life.

Product Details

  • Amazon Sales Rank: #158849 in Books
  • Published on: 2003-12-10
  • Original language: English
  • Number of items: 1
  • Binding: Paperback
  • 320 pages

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Parents who over-coddle, over-schedule and over-stimulate would do well to cut back or risk damage for generations to come, according to authors Clarke, Dawson (co-authors of Growing Up Again) and Bredehoft (chair of the department of social and behavioral sciences at Concordia College). Unchecked, overindulgence can create kids who lack even the most basic skills, morals and emotions, they say. Considering the popularity of the 'they're-only-kids-once' people who encourage individuality and permissiveness, this is certainly a different-maybe even controversial-approach. While perhaps a bit melodramatic in its outlook, the book manages to be useful and specific, and it's not simply a "tough love" guide, either. Go ahead, these authors say, love them dearly but while you are at it, give them chores, rules, structure and a united front-the results will be overwhelmingly positive. The unlikeliness of some scenarios and tips will make parents wince (despite what anyone says, few kids will thank their parents for being strict). It's also safe to assume that no matter the case, sometimes even the best parent can't get a point in edgewise. So, if parents and kids can learn when enough truly is enough, will the world be a better place? Maybe, maybe not-but like chicken soup, it can't hurt.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Joan K. Comeau, Ph.D., CFCS, CFLE, Founder and Director,
"This book will help you give your child the skills to be successful in life."

Reverend Dick Lundy
"This is a marvelously helpful book for those of us who want the very best for our children..."

Customer Reviews

must-read for all parents5
How to not raise brats!

Really no one wants to raise a total brat or monster, but it happens all the time! This is a must-read for all parents, especially those who want their kids to be upstanding citizens when they grow up.

A fascinating way to look at things5
Some types of overindulgence are obvious, but what made this book so fascinating were the more subtle nuances.

Also, the specific examples and dialogues are super-useful; meaning, SPECIFIC examples of what to say in certain situations and lots of illustrative example situations.

I know that parenting cannot be learned from a book, but damned if this book doesn't come as close as possible! I read it on loan from the library and MUST have my own copy, as the mom of a two-year-old!

Excellent guide book, better than many others5
This is one of the better parenting books I've read so far (and I read a lot of parenting books). I think it's structured really well, very thorough, very helpful in understanding some of the pitfalls of parenting and some of the ways to be more effective. There are a lot of examples, which can slow down the reading but also help understand better what the author intended. Some of what the book says is very common sense and would seem obvious and like nothing new, but the way the author puts out the information is somehow very fresh and helped me understand better what behavior to avoid. Overall, I highly recommend this book; it's one of my favorite guidebooks so far.