Happy Parents Happy Kids

by Ann Douglas

Parenting without anxiety, guilt, or feeling overwhelmed

Happy Parents Happy Kids is the ultimate no-guilt guide to boosting your enjoyment of parenting while at the same time maximizing the health and happiness of your entire family. You can find ways to take care of yourself while you’re busy raising a family—just as you can choose to use parenting strategies that work for you and your kids. This practical and encouraging book will help you

· Discover what less-stressed-out parents know about minimizing the fallout from work-life imbalance (to say nothing of all the other things our generation of parents can’t help but feel anxious about)

· Tackle the challenges of distracted parenting(in a way that helps kids to develop healthy relationships with technology)

· Balance your hopes and dreams for your children with the demands of the rest of your life

· Manage screen time for your whole family with simple and effective strategies

· Learn mindfulness strategies that can make parenting easier and can be effortlessly worked into your daily life

· Live healthier (including a crash course on the science of habit change)

· Become a calmer and more confident parent so that you can stop feeling bad and raise astonishingly great kids

The takeaway message is clear, powerful, and potentially life-changing. You can lose the guilt, embrace the joy, and thrive alongside your kids.

Genres: Parenting

320 pages, Paperback

First published February 19, 2019

About the author

Ann Douglas sparks conversations that matter about parenting and mental health. She is a bestselling parenting book author and the former parenting columnist for The Toronto Star and CBC Radio. Her most recent book -- Navigating the Messy Middle: A Fiercely Honest and Wildly Encouraging Guide for Midlife Women -- has just been published in Canada, the US, and the UK.

Ann is also the author of Happy Parents Happy Kids, Parenting Through the Storm: How to Handle the Highs, the Lows, and Everything in Between, and the creator of The Mother of All Books series: The Mother of All Pregnancy Books, The Mother of All Baby Books, The Mother of All Toddler Books, The Mother of All Parenting Books and The Mother of All Pregnancy Organizers.

A passionate and inspiring speaker, Ann delivers keynote addresses and leads small-group workshops at health and parenting conferences. If you've already met Ann via one her books, you know what you can expect from one of her presentations: to be inspired, informed, and entertained. Not only will she shift your thinking about parenting: she’ll move you to action as well—and in a way that leaves you feeling confident and capable as opposed to anxious, guilty, or overwhelmed.

You can connect with Ann on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest.

Reviews

[Danielle · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is like having a big cup of tea with a dear friend. The Mother of All has done it again. I found myself highlighting and nodding constantly through out the book. This is a book for parents at any stage of the journey. Thank you, Ann!

[Angela Crocker · Rating 5 out of 5]

Every parent needs to read this book! As with many other parents, Ann Douglas has been a guiding light in my journey as a Mom. Of all her informative and helpful books, Happy Parents, Happy Kids is my favorite. Ann's research affirms the universal challenges parents face and the societal pressures that aggravate those issues. Best of all, this book gives parents hope that they can make changes to ease the financial, scheduling, and other other burdens of raising children. And Ann gives parents permission to take care of their own happiness and well-being which, in turn, fosters happy kids. Whether parents are juggling screen time or bedtime or time for self-care, most of all, Ann reminds us to do the best we can, even if our "best" is just okay on a given day. If you're a parent, read this book. You'll feel inspired and empowered on a path to happiness that works for your family.

[Karen Green · Rating 5 out of 5]

I could say that am biased because I love Ann and I contributed a thought or two to this book, but years before I ever knew her, I counted on Ann for pregnancy and parenting advice, and her wisdom, practicality and clarity continues here.

I have to read books like this in small parcels because I want to actually absorb and remember the advice I am being given--this book is so dense with truth, comfort and practical solutions that I actually stopped tabbing the sections I wanted to remember to go back to because the entire book would be stuck with bright flags. That is the gift of Ann's writing style and why Canadian parents have relied on her since the first inkling of impending parenthood entered our thoughts. When you read this, or any of Ann's books, you first and foremost feel seen, so the loneliness that accompanies the challenging--and even the great--parts of parenthood dissolve quickly. From there we can get to the meat of solving problems, or at least finding healthy ways to cope.

That was my biggest takeaway from this book: the challenges we face will morph, change, get worse and get better, but taking care of ourselves and not succumbing to the weight of the challenges must be prioritized.

This is the book for the parents that are in the thick of it. It's so reassuring.

[Océane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un livre axé sur la santé mentale des parents, qui remet au cœur l'importance de se sentir bien mentalement pour être un meilleur parent. Truffé d'exemples concrets provenant de parents, il donne des solutions pour se sentir plus en confiance, sans jugement - notamment sur les aspects des écrans et de la balance vie familiale/vie professionnelle.

[Janice · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I found this book, I was at a very low point in my parenting journey. I wasn't enjoying being a mom, and I knew that it had to be better than what I was experiencing. Ann Douglas illuminated the reasons I wasn't happy, and there were so many lightning-bolt moments where I realized that I could make simple changes to improve things. After I applied some of the things I learned, I truly became so much happier, and amazingly, my kids did too. Before I felt harried and scattered - now I feel calm and present. Thank you so much Ann Douglas! I found this book at the library, and went on to purchase copies for me and my sister-in-law. In general, the book is positive and hopeful, easy to read, and not preachy or condescending like some other popular parenting books I've read.

[Crazy Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The ‘master’ of all parenting books has done it again- this time with a book FOR parents on self care, relationship advice, the benefits of attentive parenting, parenting & behaviour strategies, with insight into mental health, as well as ways you can meet the myriad demands of modern life (spoiler alert - you can’t)

As a parent myself (of four kids!) this book was the support, advice, & therapy I needed but didn’t know I did.

A MUST READ

[Marilyn Silver · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good easy reading references to research, and anecdotal interviews. I was disturbed in feeling the focus was more on mothers than on fathers struggles. Fathers seemed overlooked. Research cited looked more often at mothers, or couples/parents - not at fathers. There are so many fathers today who share all child rearing burdens and struggles, with the exception of breastfeeding.

[Dey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Appreciated the focus on Canadian data — helped me learn my new country a bit better.

Very broad overview, with strategies woven in at end of chapters mostly. Lots of stories from individuals (mostly women).

[Lauren Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Worth your time if you’re feeling stuck in parenting in any way but...sadly, not as many concrete solutions as I’d like.

[Erin Russell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not quite as helpful as I had hoped. Ann Douglas does an excellent job of describing the problems of modern parenting, unfortunately I found her solutions somewhat lacking.