How To Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber, Elaine Mazlish (1999, Paperback)

I bought this book on recommendation from a friend with children close in age to my own. My kids are 3 1/2 years and 2 years. I wasn't happy with how my ineffective my methods of "discipline" were; I was growing ever more dissatisfied with constantly having to nag my oldest to listen to the rules of the household and eventually having to resort to time-outs and threats of a smack or the behind.

This book provides some common-sense insight into the psychology of communication and illustrates how often acknowledging a child's feelings and providing validation can enlist a their cooperation in finding solutions to problems with behavior and such. Sometimes parents can lose sight of the common-sense point of view when entrenched in the day-to-day struggle for control of the household! I've put many of these basics to the test and although not completely fool-proof, they work to avoid conflict in a lot of situations and get the behavior corrected or problem solved! I'm also seeing that the techniques work wonders with adults as well....

My only area of disappointment with this book is that there isn't more info for working with toddlers...but I think that's just an inherent problem in working with that age bracket. The language capabilities can be limited - so in a book about Talking and Listening, that may just be a fact of life!

Overall, I'm very satisfied with this book and I'm sharing it with friends and my husband in an effort to improve everyone's relationships with their kids!