Parenting Advice – A Parent's Guide to Challenging Situations

Parenting by Strengths: A Parent’s Guide to Challenging Situations by 7 Parenting Experts
Seven parenting pros including Cathy Rodriguez, Toni Schutta, Sarah Gillen, Amy Johnson, Marion Bloch, Janice Van Buren and Mary Ivory all got together to compile Parenting By Strengths: A Parent’s Guide to Challenging Situations. The books focuses on helping parents cope with modern-day issues surrounding raising a child. In today’s times, parents have a million things to worries about with everything from dealing with money to technology to Halloween costumes. This book covers a lot of bases, as it comes from parental counseling experts.
For instance, on Job Loss and Money Problems, the authors’ tips are: “Tell the truth. Tell your kids that there won’t be as many presents this holiday season. Tell them that your family budget is really strained right now. When framed in a positive way this is an opportunity to teach your children how to save money and spend wisely. Have your child make gifts, teach your children how to shop clearance aisles first, go to second-hand or dollar stores, do product comparisons, shop from a list to avoid impulse buys and use coupon sites.”

After mentioning the Halloween costume subject, I’m sure you’re curious about what they had to say on that. The authors mention that “Children need reliable, accurate information from trusted adults to handle the messages about sexuality they receive on a daily basis from media sources and peers. For parents with young girls, especially, Halloween can mean going through racks of costumes with short skirts, bare midriffs, and laced up heels. Use these teachable moments to discuss your values and limits around costumes. Teach your values, and give your children reliable, accurate information about the many ways sexuality messages enter their lives.”

The authors touch on things like keeping kids healthy in school, addressing the swine flu, and even how to limit TV and cell phone exposure to increase attention and success at school. The book costs $12.95 and can be bought online or in book stores nationwide. To learn more about the authors and the book, you can check their site at www.parentingbystrengths.com.