Say It Once: The No Bullshit Guide to Parenting

by Kysa Kelleher

Say It Once: The No Bullshit Guide to Parenting is your go-to handbook for successful childrearing. The overall concept is simple: empower your children, and learn how to say "no" with love and a smile. Change your home for the better as you teach your kids to pull their own weight, and to discover for themselves how good it feels to help with the daily chores of running a household. Without raising your voice, take the stress out of the countless challenges families face--coping with mealtimes, choosing the right school, helping with homework, managing cell phones, dressing for the weather, and much more.

Genres: Parenting

260 pages, Paperback

Published January 9, 2017

Reviews

[Ken · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is not only wonderful for parenting, but also useful for most other interactions.

[Deborah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This books was a super fast read that gave me great tips on how to parent more effectively. I loved it and actually read it start to finish instead of jumping around. Super helpful!

[Kristen LaBarca · Rating 5 out of 5]

have an especially unique perspective on this parenting book because the author, Kysa Kelleher, is my teenage son's stepmom. I have therefore seen and experienced firsthand the impact that her parenting style has on my own son. Before Kysa came into my (and my son's) life, I thought I was doing a great job as a parent. I was very loving and always there for him whenever he needed anything. Like most parents to young kids, I would wake my son up in the morning before school, make him breakfast and send him off to school with a lunch that I made for him. Of course, if he forgot his lunch, I would bring it to him at school. I believed that doing all these things for him demonstrated my love for him and my value as a parent. However, when he was at his dad and Kysa's house, I discovered everything was much different for him. He had to count on his alarm to wake him up in the morning. If he didn't wake up, he would suffer the consequences -- even if that meant him running in a panic to school an hour late. If he forgot his lunch at school, he would have to go hungry. He learned pretty quickly to get up at the sound of the buzzer and to never forget his lunch! He also was expected to do two hours of chores on the weekend. I remember driving by their house one cold weekend and seeing him outside raking leaves in the pouring rain. I also remember when he mentioned to me in 4th grade that he had to make his own lunch on the days he was at his dad's house. I must admit, at first I was a little upset at her parenting style. I felt Kysa wasn't providing him with the same love and care that I gave him every day. If she really cared for him, she wouldn't make him do so much and be so strict, right??

Um, no, that is wrong. Saying "no" to your kids and having them take on lots of responsibilities in no way means you love them less. Although it is not readily apparent, kids really do love having structure and rules and consequences in their lives. And if you start them young enough, they absolutely love to do things on their own! After some time, we implemented many of the same rules at our house and my son gained all kinds of independence by getting himself up in the morning, making his own meals, doing his own laundry, cleaning his bathroom and doing weekend chores. I am proud to say he is now a junior in high school and is, for the most part, completely self-sufficient. He manages his own schoolwork and schedule and I know he will head off to college well-prepared for life without parents. I am working on using the same parenting principles that Kysa outlines in her book on my two younger children. I can't say I've adopted every single suggestion she makes in her book but I can say that I agree wholeheartedly with her parenting style and have witnessed how well it works not only in my own son but in all of her other kids as well. I challenge you to go buy the book and empower your kids. Not only will your life get easier and less stressful but your kids will benefit and grow as they prepare for their own eventual adulthood. Thank you, Kysa, for a great book and for helping me to become a better parent to all three of my kids!