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Parenting For Dummies
Published:
May 20, 2002
Overview
Written by parents for parents!
We humans are pretty clever. We’ve mastered fire, invented the wheel, calculated the age of the Universe, sent people to the Moon, built machines that think, and cracked the genome. So you’d think that with all our smarts, somebody would’ve come up with a surefire formula for raising kids. Maybe that’s because every child, like every parent, is an individual, and no two parent-child relationships are ever the same. So, you can give up any notions of being a perfect parent. But, you can learn to keep the big mistakes to a minimum and make the parenting enterprise easier and more rewarding for your children and you. Which is where this book comes in.
We humans are pretty clever. We’ve mastered fire, invented the wheel, calculated the age of the Universe, sent people to the Moon, built machines that think, and cracked the genome. So you’d think that with all our smarts, somebody would’ve come up with a surefire formula for raising kids. Maybe that’s because every child, like every parent, is an individual, and no two parent-child relationships are ever the same. So, you can give up any notions of being a perfect parent. But, you can learn to keep the big mistakes to a minimum and make the parenting enterprise easier and more rewarding for your children and you. Which is where this book comes in.
Whether you’re child is a newborn, a teen, or somewhere in-between, Parenting For Dummies gives you the scoop on parenting basics. From dealing with a crying baby and potty training, to building self-esteem and talking with them about sex, it offers a gold mine of up-to-date advice and guidance on how to:
- Learn to communicate with your kids
- Develop a good relationship with your kids
- Keep your kids safe and healthy
- Help your kids grow up to be good people
- Keep your cool and control their behavior
- Discipline constructively and with a minimum of stress
- Build self-esteem in your children
- Avoid committing the parenting sins your parents taught you
Experts Sandy and Dan Gookin—she’s the parenting expert for Parents Magazine and Working Mother Magazine and he’s a father of four—avoid the psychological hype and medical terminology and give you the straight poop on all aspects of child-rearing, including:
- Speaking and listening to kids
- The importance of being consistent
- Keeping a sense of humor
- Dealing with babies
- Childhood growth and development
- Health and nutrition
- Kids’ changing physical needs
- Developing a good person
Parenting For Dummies gives you the know-how and skills you need to be the parent of healthy, happy kids.
Following some helpful advice about parenting will help you keep your cool and forge ahead with enthusiasm even when the going gets rough. In case of a family emergency, make sure you have a list handy of emergency phone numbers and that everyone in the house knows where it is. Parenting comes with a set of absolute rules, so get to know and consistently practice them.
About The Author
Sandra Hardin Gookin serves as a parenting expert for Parents Magazine and Working Mother Magazine.
Dan Gookin wrote the international bestseller DOS For Dummies. They have four sons.
Articles From The Book
3 results
Parenting
Articles
The freckle-faced kid at the checkout counter asks, "Paper or plastic?" You seem to lose with either choice: Do you want to use paper and kill a tree to take home your groceries, or do you want to use plastic and fill up landfills?
Another major life puzzle you'll face as a new parent is cloth versus disposable diapers.
Parenting
Articles
The fact that you need to discipline your children is not an open invitation to treat them with a lack of respect or decency. It also doesn't mean that you take on the role of Czar with your children as the peasant slaves.
Letting kids be kids
Kids will be kids and should be allowed to make mistakes, make messes, and get mad and upset.
Parenting
Articles
You can reduce the number of times your children have outbursts in stores or other temper tantrums with a simple method of communication: Explain to your kids what you expect of them. Tell them how they are to behave.
Kids like to know what's going on just as much as you do; they like being prepared and informed.
Parenting
Articles
Let's face it, parenting is hard work, and any help you can get is great! Take a look at these parenting tips so you can be an effective and happy parent and do it consistently with enthusiasm:
You're not going to do everything right.
When you find you've handled a situation wrong, correct the error, brush yourself off, and try again.
Parenting
Articles
Good communication skills are the foundation for building a great relationship with your kids. However, so many different elements get thrown in the way that listening and communicating aren't always easy or effective.
Here are some techniques that you can use to improve communication with your kids. It doesn't necessarily mean they'll mind you or agree with what you're saying, which is okay, but at least they'll hear what you're saying.
Parenting
Articles
Don't assume that just because you naturally produce breast milk you will, without a doubt, know how to nurse your newborn. It doesn't work that way. For many mothers, breast-feeding takes time and practice before everything goes along smoothly. Then there are those mothers who grab their babies while on the birthing table, hold their newborns to their breast, and never have to think twice about nursing their children.
Parenting
Articles
One thing you can do as a parent is to be prepared for an emergency before it happens. Fill out a list with these important phone numbers and post it in the house so it's visible, preferably near each phone. Let your other family members (and babysitter) know where the list is located.
Police:
Fire:
Doctor:
Ambulance:
Hospital:
Poison Center:
Neighbors:
School:
Work:
Cell phone:
Misc.
Parenting
Articles
Pick up any magazine in the grocery store, and you'll find at least one heading that reads, "How to keep the romance alive!" or "Take our survey, are you a good kisser?" or "Is beer more important to him than you are?" A hidden rule that you as a parent must follow is that you must be good to yourself. If you feel good about who you are, your children will learn to feel good about themselves.
Parenting
Articles
Following some helpful advice about parenting will help you keep your cool and forge ahead with enthusiasm even when the going gets rough. In case of a family emergency, make sure you have a list handy of emergency phone numbers and that everyone in the house knows where it is. Parenting comes with a set of absolute rules, so get to know and consistently practice them.
Parenting
Articles
Don't underestimate the importance of good manners. Your children will grow up to be kinder and more considerate of others if you teach them how to be that way when they're young. You can do that by setting a good example. You must always say "please" and "thank you" to your kids. Even when you are saying, "Please get your bicycle off my foot," or "Thank you for the dead slug.
Parenting
Articles
You may be at the time in your life when you expand your family. Oh happy, happy, joy, joy! But you may be wondering how your other children are going to respond to a new family member. That's a very good question, and one that deserves special attention.
The news that a new baby is going to be in the house is going to prompt many interesting questions from your children.
Parenting
Articles
Teaching honesty and responsibility takes a considerable amount of time and patience, and it isn't anything like teaching your kids how to tie their shoes, where they understand the basic concept after a few lessons. You'll have to keep hammering away at these lessons for a long time.
Can we be honest?
You teach honesty by encouraging your kids to tell the truth and to let you know what's on their minds.
Parenting
Articles
Once you become a parent, your job has important duties (whether you want them or not): Take good care of your child, keep them safe, and develop a good relationship. A few basic rules apply and must be done as a parent:
Thou shalt not make anything more important than thy children.
Thou shalt work to have great patience during times of stress.
Parenting
Articles
When rocking a crying baby doesn't soothe and quiet the little one, what's a parent to do? Use this easy flowchart to figure out your next move. You'll notice that at one point it says that babies just need to cry. This concept is a tough one, but think of it like this: Newborns sometimes just need to exercise their lungs.
