Screamfree Parenting, 10th Anniversary Revised Edition: How to Raise Amazing Adults by Learning to Pause More and React Less

by Hal Edward Runkel

Book Overview

WANT A PEACEFUL HOME? This practical, effective guide for parents with kids of all ages introduces proven principles for overcoming the stress and anxiety of parenting, forged in the personal trenches of countless Screamfree families. If you're like most parents, what you want right now is pretty simple: an effective plan for getting your kids to behave and be happy. You're probably looking for something else as well - something a little deeper. Like...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0767927435
• ISBN13: 9780767927437
• Release Date: August 2008
• Publisher: Harmony
• Length: 336 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 5.1" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

Already love

I just received this book today...(got here fast!). I have read the first chapter and had to make myself put it down and go to bed. It’s 4 am and if I don’t I won’t put it down and will read the whole thing! I can already tell it is well written and that I will benefit from this book just as many others have testified that they have and are still. Can’t wait to read the next chapter tomorrow.

Great book!

Such an encouraging, helpful parenting book. Great perspective on more than just “screaming”

A must for all parents

The thing that seperates this book from all other parenting books is that it is principle-based rather than reaction-based. It is not, "if your kid does this , you do this" book. The best book I have ever read for parenting. It has changed the way my wife and I parent, and has changed our children for the better. We constantly get complimented on how "good" our children are, and I attribute much of that to this book.

Every Parent Needs to Read This Book

Screamfree Parentening is one of the best books I've read on Parenting, it's easy to read and has very applicable. I have recommended this book to all my friends and family members. If you are looking for a "Raising Kids" manual, this is it!!

Great Resource

This book is a good, no nonsense approach to managing discipline in your house. Once you understand the key point, "Take care of yourself so others don't have to." it all makes sense.

Screamfree parenting truly works!

Before I had children, I spoke in soft, lilting tones, rarely raising my voice above a lady-like whisper. The moment my children arrived on the scene, however, I witnessed how my vocal chords were suddenly in top form. It was alarming, really. Where did I gain my two-octave ability? By yelling at my kids. I swallowed hard. Yell? Scream? Pitch a fit? I'd done it like the best of them. It is not comfortable to admit this to you, nor is it an unnatural tendency to want to be louder than they are. But, I realized I was not often modeling my best behavior. Nor was I truly getting what I wanted: self-directed children who are motivated by their own moral principles. I was getting deer-in-the-headlights glances and scurrying feet who did my will, but not for long. Hal Edward Runkel, a family therapist from Atlanta, Georgia, provides a fabulous insight into how we can literally live screamfree. He doesn'T suggest we change our personalities. He does recommend morphing our anxious reactivity into more empowering means of communicating with our loved ones. Hal's approach is so down-to-earth that you'll find yourself slapping your own head with a "Why didn't I think of that?" The book rests on three basic principles. Parenting is about the parent, not the kids. Calm down. Grow up. While these may seem oversimplistic, the premise is quite revolutionary. We've got Generation Y running about the office, expecting a large congratulations for actually showing up on time to work. Our kid-centric model of parenting has failed miserably. Humans raising other humans is challenging at best. If you don't care for your own reactions (the only ones you can control), how can you care for anyone else? Another heartening suggestion - stop trying to control something you cannot. The only thing you can control is your reaction to things. Anxious reactivity informs a lot of our parenting. Give it up. Your children are not responsible for making you happy, but for finding their way in the world. They can't do that if they have to worry about you going ballistic, too. Hal's hardest pill to swallow might be that we are the ones standing in the way of a powerful relationship with our kids. I'm guilty of it. You might be, too. Halfway through the book, I decided to test out his theory. It's one thing to grin, nod and giggle from the comfort of your own post-kid-bedtime bed. It's an entirely other thing to actually put it to use. I ordered a family-size vegetarian pizza for everyone. My daughter loves cheese pizza, but enjoys a dubious relationship to anything green. When it arrived, she wagged her tongue about like a canine happy to see his master. We opened the box, and her face fell like a soufflé at a children's birthday party. "It's not cheese." I suggested she pick off what she doesn't like, which she did, leaving her with a bare pizza. She cried, kicked the table and had a juicy tantrum, while I kept eating my pizza. I continued eating while she spewed out t

Scream Free Parenting

Fabulous book. I am going to a seminar to hear the author speak. I am almost finished with the book and it has helped a lot. I am a teacher and it is great for my classroom as well! Definitely a must read for parents - the sooner the better. They have a great website as well.