Really Good Parenting Books!

In My Humble Opinion
1

I really wish I’d read this book BEFORE this past August (forever to be known as “The August from Hell”). My twins were 2.5 and they drove me absolutely bonkers, day and night. I screamed myself hoarse and gave more than one swat.

Louise Bates Ames wrote this series back in 1985 and they’re STILL on the shelves at my local Borders, so I figured that’s a pretty strong endorsement (plus a bunch of sensible moms have recommended her). She’s not prescriptive, there are no easy answers, BUT she does make a lot of suggestions and EXPLAINS WTF IS GOING ON HERE so that you don’t feel like your previously agreeable child has turned into the Devil himself. Had I known that this is a temporary state, I think I could’ve stayed more calm instead of feeling like a failure and trying to compensate for whatever I’d done wrong.

In fact, the next time someone starts a thread complaining about the 2-yr-old brat they saw in the mall, I’m going to explain to them that this is a temporary problem and it’s related to development, NOT faulty parenting, and EVERY child does it.

Good thing is, apparently 3 1/2 is EVEN WORSE, but now I’ve been warned :cool: .

2

I second your recommendation! A friend told me about these–frankly I think they go back even farther (I have an old Gesell institute parenting book from the 1970s). However, back then they didn’t structure the information like this (“Your X-Year Old”.

I think you could summarize the entire series as one really good answer:“It’s probably normal, and it will pass.” But as you say, there is a lot more to it.

3

I’m going to definitely pick this book up…thank you for the reco! I actually put her in her room, closed the door, and burst into tears today (not something I am typically inclined to do), because I couldn’t stand to hear “no no no no noooooo!” one more time. She won’t eat, she won’t take a nap, she doesn’t want to get dressed, she doesn’t want to put her coat on when we leave the house, she doesn’t want to take it off when we get home, she doesn’t want to get in her car seat, she doesn’t want to do ANYTHING she is asked…and, yes, she has always been very agreeable up until now. I am at my wits’ end, and I’m very, very tired.