Setting Parents Free: How to give your kids what they need, and where to run when you drop the ball.

by John L. Cox

“How do we deal with this tantrum?”
“How do we get our kids to do what we say?”
“How do I help my child who’s always afraid?”
"What about my surly teen?"
“What can I do to help my child develop a relationship with God?”

For more than 30 years, parents have come to Dr. John Cox with questions like these. How do we parent well? And by the way, how do we also keep bath time from becoming another dumpster fire?
Welcome to Setting Parents Free.

In SPF, Dr. Cox condenses his years of work in the field of parenting (as well as raising a few kids of his own) and brings them to you in book form. Filled with solid wisdom and playful humor, Dr. Cox will guide you to the basic things that kids need to do life well, understand love, and follow God. (And we’ll throw in “do what you say when you say it” as a freebie!)

But wait! There’s more! What if we parents drop the ball; screw it all up? (Because you know we will, right?) Most parents live terrified of making mistakes and screwing up their kids. And that’s a terrible way to live!
It’s time to get free!

Not only will Setting Parents Free give you grounded parenting advice, Cox also surrounds the book with the grace that asks, “Could it still be OK to drop the ball as a parent?”
The Absolutely, yes!
In fact, in SPF Cox will teach you how your mistakes in parenting might actually improve your relationship with your child.
It’s time to get free.
Free to know what you’re doing as a parent, and free to just be a regular ole human in the process!

Dr. John L. Cox is a clinical psychologist. In addition to maintaining an outpatient psychotherapy practice, he is a frequent speaker in the areas of marriage, parenting and relational growth, and the author of The One A Psychologist Reaches for the Heart of God.
Johncoxpsychology.com Good Enough Living

364 pages, Paperback

Published October 17, 2019

Reviews

[C.J. Moore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lots of helpful tips; broad across the ages so you can grab what you need for the given moment of parenthood. Could’ve been shorter for sure, but he’s an engaging writer and tells stories quite well, so I didn’t always mind. He’ll help you see you’re not alone in the struggle, and your kids are probably gonna be alright (or, at the least, your one bad day isn’t going to make them psychopaths later).

Biggest takeaways:

-emphasis on teaching consequences of behaviors, and in that, shaping young minds
-be calm, cool, and collected in the disciplinary moments
-give children clear options and let them make a choice; if they still choose wrongly, help them see the consequences of that choice (and deliver on your promises)
-give them time to learn abstract principles (for a while, it’s okay that things are merely “black and white” because mom and dad say so)
-varying forms of discipline (not always going with the terminal option of spanking)
-exemplifying for your kids what you want to see in them (apologize when you do wrong)

[Amanda Goyzueta · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it. John writes as if he’s speaking to you. At times that’s annoying and at others it feels like you’re having a heart to heart in a warm, safe room together…and in parenting don’t we need those warm, safe spaces? Grateful for how he breaks things down by age and stage at almost every turn. No stage and no child is one size fits all and he gets that. Honestly, made me long for a seminar to come near me so I actually CAN go sit in that room with him. Grateful for his years of experience and wisdom.

[Thomas Kuhn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny, practical, and maybe a little repetitive. It reads like an extended conversation with an older parent who’s seen everything you’re seeing. Really helpful.