Parenting Without Fear: Letting Go of Worry and Focusing on What Really Matters

by Paul J. Donahue

"Dr. Donahue's calm, reasoned approach will help moms and dads sort out their concerns so they can stop worrying about the future and enjoy their rapidly changing kids ― now."

--Thomas. W. Phelan, author, 1-2-3 Effective Discipline for Children

The ‘perfect parenting' expectations imposed on you by the media, society, your family, and your community can seem impossible to live up to and only make you more fearful and anxious. Paul Donahue, Ph.D. has uncovered the six most common fears that prevent you from being the effective, loving, and successful parent you want to

-The Fear of Letting Go

-The Fear of Not Doing Enough

-The Fear of Taking Charge

-The Fear of Slowing Down

-The Fear of Unstructured Time

-The Fear of Falling Behind

Parenting Without Fear gives you the tools to confront your fears, rethink your goals and teach your children how to be independent, to persevere, to cooperate and respect adults, to be mindful, to imagine and explore their world, and to develop compassion for others. Discover how to gain the confidence to trust your own judgment, and the courage to make choices about your children's academic, social and athletic lives that reflect your family's values and balance your needs with theirs.

"Dr. Donahue has masterfully identifies the key fears faced by many parents as they confront the challenges of raising children in today's world and he does so with warmth, humor, and empathy. This book will serve as an invaluable resource for parents."

--Robert Brooks, Ph.D., co-author, Raising Resilient Children and The Power of Achieving Balance, Confidence and Personal Strength in Your Life

"This book provides welcome reassurance to parents who worry they are not doing everything they can for their kids."

--Nancy Samalin, M.S., author of Loving without Spoiling and 100 Timeless Tips for Raising Terrific Kids

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction, Adult

305 pages, Paperback

First published August 7, 2007

Reviews

[Kelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm pretty done with most parenting primers at this stage in the game, and yet this one draws many of the same conclusions that I have slowly come to through the years. It simply represents common sense parenting that seems to have gone out the window without resulting to chastising all "modern day parents". This obsequious criticism of most parenting primers kill me. Good ahead and bite the hand of a reader who has picked up a book to try to become a beter parent, why don't you?

At the same time, this book isn't "off the grid" stating that you pretty much have to opt out of anything mainstream. Simply, it advises to forget all the noise and go with what feels right rather than following the common route.

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly the only reason I needed to read this was to bolster my faith in my own child rearing. BUT it has also helped me realize that I need to give my kids even more independence (which is so hard for me) and it has helped me clarify what it is that I dislike so much about all the supposedly "kid friendly" stuff that happens in my town--it all starts during what we've set aside as relaxing family time. So we'll miss the activities that start at 7pm but we'll be a stronger family for it.

[Alissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was really excited to start this book because I've always had issues with anxiety and becoming a parent only heightened them. Reading part one of this book, I was quite excited to hear what Donahue made out to be these huge revelations in parenting and what it meant to be anxiety-free.... but I just didn't get it. I really liked what he had to say about slowing down, limiting screen-time and not putting too much pressure on a kid. I think these are really important things and obviously his research backs it up... But I just stopped reading 2/3 of the way through because it was just the same information over. and over.

If you like repetitive stuff, this is for you... Otherwise, I think he could of accurately summed his whole premise up in one nice concise Journal article... but instead decided to write about it for 300 pages.

[April · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a really good book, but I didn't finish it because after a while his observatiosn seemed redundant, especially sine he was essentially preaching to the choir as I agree with many of his observations about the stress parents are feeling to try to provide the best anf be the best for their children. I would definitely recommend it for people who need the reassurances that their natural instincts are the best and correct ones and to let go of a lot of the crap tossed on us by everybody who thinks they know better.

[Clint Kuipers]

This is a good one. Usually parents feel pressured to do more, but this one encourages you to do less. Ask yourself questions like, How will my kids learn to be creative and explore if their time is always structured, scheduled, I'm entertaining them, or they're watching TV? How will they learn to work hard and persevere if they're never allowed to struggle? How will they learn compassion and empathy if they're never allowed to fail?