Quick Tips for Busy Families by Jay Payleitner

Parenting advice from one family to another.  Sometimes it's nice to get ideas from other families about what child-rearing strategies have worked for them and then decide which might also work for you.  That's what this book is....quick tips-ranging from games to chore responsibilities to spiritual guidance.  I think the idea behind the book was good, but the organization left a little to be desired.

The title even indicates that this book is for BUSY families.  If you're busy, you want to find the information relevant to you quickly.  The main drawback to this book is that there are ideas for all age-ranges of children that are scattered in no particular order.  My youngest is 10 years old, so there are many "tips" that no longer apply to my family.  It would have saved time to be able to go to a section specifically for my age-range of interest.  Instead I had to skim and browse to find what was relevant to me.  There is a topical index at the back of the book, but not for age.

As with any parenting advice books, there will be strategies you agree with and ones you don't.  For example, I don't think that if your child starts to pout in the grocery store that you should leave a cart full of groceries and walk out.  I think it's rude to give all that extra work of re-stocking your items to the store employees.  But there are other tips that I did like.  Turning work into a competition.  Using a Job Jar as punishment for bad attitudes and including "grace" as an option.  Teaching good stewardship on field trips by giving your child a certain amount of money and telling them they can keep what they don't spend.  There were definitely some good ideas on these pages, but nothing that struck me as really new and exciting.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Bethany House in exchange for an honest review.