How Children Raise Parents: The Art of Listening to Your Family

by Dan B. Allender

Overview

Parenting with Humility...We often realize that we learn as much from our children as they learn from us. So why don’t parents approach the task of child-rearing as a learning experience, rather than a mandate to make sure their kids succeed in life?

To reduce the pressure and enjoy greater closeness in your family, turn your parenting upside-down by allowing God to use your children to help you grow up. Imagine what would happen if you began to prize what you’re being taught by your children’s quirks, failures, and normal childhood dilemmas, rather than worrying about whether you’re doing everything right as a parent. Now you can let go of the pressure to make sure your children succeed, and instead learn to grow into spiritual maturity by listening to your children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781400070527
Publisher:	The Crown Publishing Group
Publication date:	02/15/2005
Edition description:	Revised ed.
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.97(w) x 8.95(h) x 0.60(d)

About the Author

Dan B. Allender, Ph.D. is the father of Anna, Amanda, and Andrew and the husband of Rebecca. He is president of Mars Hill Graduate School in Seattle, Washington, and professor of counseling there. He is also a psychologist, speaker, writer, and fly fisherman. Dr. Allender is the author of The Wounded Heart, Bold Love, Intimate Allies, and The Healing Path. For more practical resources for parenting and the spiritual life, visit his website at www.thepathlesschosen.com

Editorial Reviews

Allender's overtly Christian take on parenting is both passionate and personal, but his preachiness and uneven narration overwhelm any valuable points he raises. Allender (The Wounded Heart) devotes considerable time to waxing on the blessings and travails of parenting as well as the artificiality of imposing parental rule systems on children. As an audio experience, this is the equivalent of listening to the author wonder aloud whether to overprotect his kids or, conversely, to tag-and-release them into the wild. The topic of exactly how kids "raise" parents is avoided much of the time in favor of exhorting parents to empathize with and understand their children. Though zealous, Allender makes for a particularly poor narrator; he speaks rapidly in a soft voice that quickly becomes monotonous. There are many faith-based parenting books (like those of William and Martha Sears) available in audio, as well as Thomas W. Phelan's more mainstream classic 1-2-3 Magic: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12. Recommended only for Christian collections.-Douglas C. Lord, Connecticut State Lib., Hartford Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

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