Kids Don't Come With a Manual: The Essential Guide to a Happy Family Life

by Carole Saad, Nadim Saad

- Help your children to become happy, confident and self-reliant.
- Step-by-step solutions to common parenting and family challenges including whining, arguing, homework, tantrums and lack of cooperation.
- Build a stronger relationship with your children and maintain it as they grow.
- Take the blame out of your relationship if you have conflicting parenting styles.
- Tailored to children aged 1 to 18.
- Based on the latest research in child psychology and neuroscience.
Through a series of easy-to-apply tools, insights from the perspective of parents and children, and real-life examples, Carole and Nadim Saad have helped thousands of parents with their parenting programme that equips parents with all the support they need to let go of the guilt and find better alternatives to time-outs, threats, rewards, yelling, giving-in and punishing.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

311 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 10, 2015

Reviews

[Natasha Mairs (Serenity You) · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best parenting books I have ever read!! My 3 kids are currently 11, 6 and 5. My youngest two are a nightmare when they are together, always arguing, hitting each other, whining and basically giving me a headache. I have read a few other parenting books before, but they were for younger children, like having them sit on the naughty step and time-out. That doesn't work with mine now. But the thing I like most about this book is that that don't give you one straight answer of how to deal with things. They show you have a typical 'all-heart' parent deals with it and also how 'the strict' parent deals with it and then give you different tactics to try. This is great as you can choose the best for your child and your style of parenting.

There are a total of 7 chapters each focusing of a different problem areas, so you can skip some if they are not relevant to you. My favourite part of the book was the appendix - Trouble Shooting top 20 parenting challenges, as I have experience all 20 of these. And there where some great tips and advice to help me deal with my eldest son, now 11. Like ignoring me, his negative attitude, back-talking, being rude, swearing and playing on his tablet and games console too much.

Following some of the advice from this book has really helped me and also made me see that before they way I way dealing with my child's whining, etc, I was making it worse and prolonging it. Now I stop it before it even starts. I would recommend this to every parent with children from the age of about 2-3.

5/5 stars

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wasn't sure how helpful this would be while reading it - it either seemed to be stating things I was already aware of, or the tools were at times kind of patronising (sometimes even a bit passive-aggressive). Although I thought it might be useful as a kind of refresher, or to help parents who are particularly struggling with some aspects of their child's behaviour.
However, I did find myself automatically using some of the tools/advice with my children after reading this, so it must have sunk in, in a useful way.

[Daniela · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this boy

Since I got pregnant, I study a lot to be a good mom and this book just put together the main tools for a parent, in a very clear, step by step, practical way.

[Abdullah Mothana Obadi Ali Al Yemen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good understanding and very helpful and good reference book to back to eye opening

[Raúl · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I had to pick just one book about parenting, undoubtedly it would this one!

[Stacey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't the usual "from birth-what babies should be doing-what you should be doing" kind of book. It's more of a toolbox on various methods of dealing with challenging behaviour from toddler-hood onward. The authors of the book, Carole & Nadim, also don't claim to be parenting experts, they have just drawn on their many years of experience and research of dealing with children, to put together this 'manual'. There are seven chapters with various tools in each one; just a few of the chapters are 'how to prevent power struggles and other issues', 'how to listen so children will want to talk', and 'how to talk so children will want to listen'.

Not all of the chapters apply to us right now but I dived straight in there and read it all as I thought I would then be prepared as & when those situations arise. Each chapter has a blurb of what the child may be thinking, then each tool has the voice of the strict parent (Nadim) and the voice of the all-heart parent (Carole) telling us how they each applied the tool and worked together for a more harmonious household. Some of the tools have already started working for us though I think some may take a little more time. For example using 'Uh-Oh & time-Away' instead of the 'naughty step', after only a couple of days my toddler has been telling me before I ask, that he wants the door left open. Limited choices is a good one for us too and (mostly) it saves meltdowns. Some of the tools I found we had already been using, so really the book is just about picking & choosing tools that apply to you. There is a handy troubleshooting section at the back for quick reference too. The only thing I've found is that some tools are easier to remember how to use than others, but after using them a few times I suppose it wouldn't be a problem (hence the handy troubleshooting section) - plus there are even pages at the end of each chapter to write your own notes.

Overall I would really recommend this book if you are encountering challenging behaviour. It is really down-to-earth and Carole & Nadim aren't telling what you should be doing, more what you could be doing differently. For us, so far, it definitely shows to be a worthwhile investment for a happier family life.

[Brighton Mama · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recently received this book to review on my blog. Now my little one is a toddler, knowing what the ‘right’ thing to do in certain situations can be confusing. With seven chapters, 'Kids Don’t Come with a Manual' covers everything from parenting styles to effective team work to dealing with the biggest parenting challenges. It helps you understand what type of parent you are and how your own upbringing has a strong impact on the way you parent. The ‘voice of a child’ is particularly useful in understanding how your child may feel and the top 20 parenting challenges gives wonderful advise. Although this book is aimed at slightly older children I am so pleased I have read it now (my little boy is nearly two). It answers a lot of my questions and brings home the fact that none of us are ‘perfect’ parents. Being a parent can be challenging but this book has a wonderfully positive ‘balanced approach’ guide to parenting and I’m sure I’ll be using this book for years to come.

Our Seaside Baby

[Paul Hartley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book starts off quite good, but gets progressively cheesier as it goes. I also felt I was being condescended to with the 'voice of the strict parent/all-heart parent' sections. Not to mention the 'real-life examples' which I am pretty sure were anything but real life.

There are some good points in this book which I have taken away and adopted, and some have worked, but overall the lessons were overshadowed by the condescending cheese.

[Heather Hoyt · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's just rehashing things I've read in other parenting books. And this book seemed particularly long and theoretical, without enough concrete, real-life examples. Too many tools to remember. I skimmed a lot of it.