I was excited to be able to review 8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids by Dr. Todd Cartmell because I'm always looking for ways to help me raise my kids and to help make me a better mom. Here's the description of the book from their website 8simpletools.com: "Whether you find parenting intuitive or impossible, we could all use a hand here and there. Let child psychologist and father Todd Cartmell walk you through the nuts and bolts of healthy, effective parenting.
Using examples from his home and 20 years of professional practice, Todd gives eight essential and practical tools to help you:
Maintain a healthy relationship with your child
Develop a nurturing home culture
Correct behavior in lasting ways
Designed for busy parents, 8 Simple Tools breaks each tool into five short chapters that include a summary tip and application questions. Use even half of the tools in your parenting, and your family dynamics will thrive. Your relationship with your child will be built on love and trust, providing you with fertile ground for planting God’s wisdom in their heart, and ultimately, seeing them flourish."
Here's the info about the author, Dr. Todd Cartmell: "I earned my doctorate in clinical psychology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena, CA. We then moved to Columbus, OH, where I completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Wright State University at the Children’s Hospital. Since then, I have done my clinical work at Summit Clinical Services in Wheaton, IL, where I continue to see children, teens, and families on a full-time basis.
I have written five parenting books (faith based), which you can learn more about on the Books page. I have presented many parenting workshops at mom’s conferences (Hearts at Home, MOPS International), MOPS groups, churches, and schools, which you can read about on the Workshop page. I have also recently developed a skill-building game for kids called The Flexible Thinking Game.
In my free time, I enjoy doing anything with my wife, spending time with my boys whenever possible, reading, running, and playing jazz piano any chance I get. My Christian faith is an important part of my life and thinking, and I am continually thankful for God’s grace, of which I am an undeserving recipient."
I have really enjoyed reading this book so far, and look forward to reading it every night. I read a little bit from about 5 different books/magazines at night before I go to bed, so I really like it that the chapters in this book are short. I'm able to read a chapter a night, and I get a lot of insight out of each one. So far, I've read about the first 3 tools. The first one is "talking." I learned to pay attention to my communication style, pause before speaking, initiate conversations, and be easy to listen to. That was a big one for me, because I like to talk a lot, and I'm sure with all my complaining, I'm not very easy to listen to sometimes.
The second tool is "listening." I learned to listen first, listen to understand, listen often, listen to everything, and listen with your entire body. This whole chapter convicted me. I always want to be the first to talk and don't take time to really listen to what my kids have to say. I'm often thinking about all the things that need to get done, or busy on the computer and not really paying attention to what they have to say.
The third tool is "influencing." I'm still reading about that, but so far I've learned to remember who your kids are, and to understand the power of my words. I often say things I wish I hadn't, so I need to remember to think before I speak.
The other tools are "connecting, teaching, encouraging, correcting, and leading." I'm looking forward to finishing the rest of this book and to seeing what else I can learn about raising great kids! By the way, this book is good for kids of all ages. I have a 9 year old, 17 year old, and 19 year old, and everything I've read can be applied to my relationship with all of them.
If you would like to read 8 Simple Tools for Raising Great Kids for yourself, I have a DISCOUNT CODE to offer to my readers. It will give you 50% off retail when you purchase the book at moodypublishers.com. Here's the code: GREATKIDS16. The code is good from April 15, 2016 to May 15, 2016. With every purchase, you have free access to The Hearts at Home Essential Workshop Collection for Parents. If you would like to know more about the author, here's his Facebook page.
I did receive a sample of the product in exchange for this review and post, however all opinions expressed are my own.Labels: Book reviews
