I always struggle with self help/help books. I feel that I either love them or meh them. I appreciated a lot of the mindful ideas in this book, however I felt it wasn't really new knowledge and that there was not much practical information to put into practice. It was definitely interesting and made me think, but it is not a book I would recommend to everyone.

I really enjoyed a great many things about this book. Characters were fleshed out and the plot was well spaced. Some of the secondary storylines could've used a bit more page space but all in all an enjoyable read!

A very practical handbook about how to deal on challenging situations where children need the best of us. Kim provide real life examples with strong advices and recommendations. Excellent book!


#BeingAtYourBestWhenYourKidsAreAtTheirWorst #NetGalley

ARC/Netgalley

I thought the first part of this book was great with a lot of very helpful concrete tips for those of us in the full swing of parenting older children. Reading the book was worth it for the first third and I took several notes that I think I'll find very valuable. The rest of the book goes into the compassionate response meditative practice. I find mindfulness and meditation very useful but found this section to be clunky and drawn out. The lengthy practice does not seem incredibly practical for most busy parents. Still worth a read as I am sure parents can adapt a shorter practice that works for their lives.

This title totally grabbed my attention and then I saw it was by the same author as Simplicity Parenting and I was sold. One of the most challenging parts of parenting is staying even-keeled and compassionate when the noise and chaos level is high, which is often...Our kids are wonderful and parenting is also the hardest thing I have ever done.

My husband and I often talk about the daily struggles being the hardest part of this stage of life. It can feel like a rollercoaster ride of emotions and there is this constant that can really push you to the limit. In addition to the needs of our children, we have the obligations of work, home and the daily expectations of just being an adult. It can be hard to find a balance between all of these and have a calm response when life is anything but that.

Kim John Payne writes in an approachable and relatable manner which makes this writing accessible. He then dives right into advice and tools about how to break the "action-reaction" response with your children. This sounds like it would be simple, but when you are in the thick of it it can be so hard. He then moves into a 4 step
"compassion response" that adults can use to respectfully and effectively communicate with children, especially when they are in crisis.

I love how he talks about the why and also the how of this approach. The idea of staying self-regulated when a child (or any person for that matter) is easy to conceptualize but often hard to execute "at the moment". This book is a practical guide for any parent or person that works with children. I found it helpful AND encouraging which is the best combination when it comes to "self-help" parenting books.

Thank you to Shambhala Publications for an advanced copy. All opinions are my own.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you NetGalley.

I really needed this book. Especially right now, during summer, with two insane bickering kids.

This book has some great and easy to use information.