Testimonials:

“I have found the book Kids: The Manual an easy-to-read and easy-to-use resource. I especially enjoy the workbook. I found the introduction to each section a wonderful “highlight” and reminder of what I should remember to do. It was phrased in an easy manner with key points to focus on.”

“Hi Dana, Reading Kids: The Manual was so helpful as it’s helped me to set a “mind framework” to prepare for the next steps in my son’s development. He is only 20 months, but already I can put at least some of the advice in your manual into practice. Hopefully it puts us both in good stead for the months ahead. Thanks Dana.”

“…Another positive has been to listen better and let up on the advice and judgments. This has especially been helpful with my 10-year-old. We can have a conversation and she can walk away feeling good about talking to me rather than regretting it. Overall, I loved how simple and to the point this book is. I can go back and review easily.”

“…I just wanted to thank you for the manual. It is absolutely full of great ideas which work. When in doubt, I always double-check what you suggest for specific problems. It seems to work a treat! Thanks again very much for your help!”

“…Your book also helped me realize that I shouldn’t really treat my son any differently than I treat anyone else. Treating my son with more respect really worked with him. He has been much more cooperative because I stay calm and patient, and he can see that I’m listening to him.”

“…After following the methods in Kids: The Manual, our girls need very little asking to keep their room tidy. If they know there are friends coming over, they voluntarily tidy their rooms as well!”

“I have a 3½ -year-old, 2½-year-old, and 6-month-old – so I’m a little busy to say the least! Thanks for your great advice in Kids: The Manual. I found that I’m already doing a lot of the “right” things, so that was reassuring! I feel a lot of the strategies in the book are more appropriate for older children, so hopefully they will help me avoid making parenting mistakes as the kids get older.

A few ideas I’ve found helpful include:

– Using natural consequences more. If they won’t eat, then I don’t force the issue anymore – they eat what’s offered or go hungry. (If they genuinely don’t like something I’m a bit more lenient – but they have to at least taste it first!) Allowing them to be more involved in meal preparation and giving them greater control over what they choose to eat has made an enormous difference – my boys will actually eat salad sandwiches for lunch by choice!
– Using a timer for time-out.
– Automatic time-outs have been helpful for my 3½ -year-old, who insists on standing right in front of the TV to watch it – he gets one warning, then every time after that he goes to time-out for 1 minute.

Thanks again, and keep up the good work!”

“The part that struck me the most was one of the first parts of the book, about listening to your kids. I liked how you showed how silly some situations would look if those were 2 adults: making sure they wear a jacket, etc. But the big “a-ha!” moment for me was when you mentioned that if kids cry or act out, we tell them that it’s because they’re tired, thus invalidating their feelings. My mom used to ALWAYS do that to me, blaming any emotion on the fact that I was tired, and it DROVE ME NUTS! And, I guess I have been doing that a bit with my son. So now I try to be more careful about invalidating feelings. It doesn’t mean that he’s not tired, but it doesn’t help for me to just point that out.

I also liked the “When nothing works” chapter. Very helpful!

Other than that, I found that the book had many good tips that I’ll be able to use… later. My son just turned 2, he’s not even talking yet, and has no sibling yet, so I found some of the situations/tips were for when he’ll be a bit older. Like, reward and homework charts, the “consequences” chapter.”

“Reading Kids: The Manual was so helpful as it’s helped me to set a “mind framework” to prepare for the next steps in my son’s development. He is only 20 months, but already I can put at least some of the advice in your manual into practice. Hopefully it puts us both in good stead for the months ahead.”

“Thank you so much for putting together Kids: The Manual! It was very helpful in learning different ways to cope with my very energetic and strong-willed 2-year-old! I soon realized that I was doing the same thing as many other parents and not using the correct punishment to fit the crime!

I have noticed that when he breaks certain rules, he seems to know what the punishment will be, and I feel like he is thinking about things before he does them! I didn’t think he really understood that he was doing things wrong before, now he seems to know that he will be punished and has stopped the behavior before he is punished! Thank you so much and I look forward to years of referring back to the manual as he gets older!”