Other Resources - Grow Great Kids - Helping Great Parents Raise Great Kids

Other Resources

Recommended Books

I'm only going to list the books I absolutely LOVE. I want everyone to read every one!

Love and Logic™ Books
I recommend nearly every book, audio, and video on the www.loveandlogic.com website, but if forced to choose…

Developing Character in Teens (audio) by Jim Fay is my very favorite Love and Logic™ product — a must have for all parents long before they even begin to think about the teen years.

The LifeSaver Kit audio set, is a wonderful way to hear all the best of what Love and Logic™ has to offer, over and over and over again.

Parenting with Love and Logic, by Foster Cline, M.D. and Jim Fay, is for parents of all-aged children — the playbook for raising kids who are responsible, respectful and fun to have around. (Parenting Teens with Love and Logic is also excellent.)

Love and Logic Magic for Early Childhood, by Charles Fay, PhD, shows parents how to start early developing children in the Love and Logic way. It's a must have for new parents.

Meeting the Challenge, by Jim Fay, Foster W. Cline, M.D., and Bob Sornson, provides common sense solutions to the challenges of attention problems. Strongly recommended for parents of kids with ADD or ADHD.
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Other Parenting Books

20 Things I Want My Kids to Know, by Hal Urban, is a great book to share with kids around age 10 and older. It's like a manual for a meaningful life. Definitely get it.

Five Needs Your Child Must Have Met At Home (audio), by Ronald Hutchcraft is as powerful as it is simple. We can employ all manner of positive parenting techniques, but they will be all for naught if we fail to give our kids what's listed on this audiotape. Listen to it for sure.

The Family Virtues Guide, by Linda Kavelin Popov, offers excellent advice on how to teach just about any life value you can think of. It's on my "must have" list.

The Seven Habits of Highly Effective Families by Stephen Covey, says it all about living your family life on purpose, and if you like to listen, get the audio version. Stephen Covey's voice is so calming, you feel like a better parent just hearing it. You must experience his "green and clean" story.

The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie Omartian, is an awesome resource for praying for our kids. Stormie provides exact words for praying over just about any parenting topic you can think of. A must have for believers.
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"God" Books

(I could call them "spirituality books" but that might indicate a "power in the crystals" or a "God as you know Her," perspective, which I do not share. I'm talking about regular old God…you know, the One in the Bible? )

Too Busy Not to Pray by Bill Hybels, is a must have if you find yourself thinking, "Yeah, I'd like to have more of God in my life, but when am I supposed to fit Him in?"

The Power of a Praying Wife, by Stormie Omartian, is an awesome resource for praying for our husbands, especially when we'd rather toss them out the window.

It's Not About Me, by Max Lucado, is an easy-read that not-so-subtly points out how we'll find the happiness we're looking for when we stop living for ourselves. (Not in a, "be a Mother Theresa" way, but in an "accept that you exist for Him" way — our talents, our problems, our everything is for His glory, not ours.)

The Bible (Duh.) Isn't it amazing all that it offers? Personally, I like the Life Application version best.

Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World, by Joanna Weaver, slaps some sense into us about how God made us to be human BEings, not human DOings.

Case for Christ, by Lee Strobel, is a tough read, but it presents compelling arguments for believing that Jesus is who He said He is/was. (Not proof, just evidence. You decide.)

The Shack, by William Young, is a novel that presents the idea of God wanting a beautifully simple relationship with us. It also deals with the age-old question of how a loving God can allow horrible things to happen on Earth.
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Books For Coaching Yourself

Jesus as Life Coach, by Laurie Beth Jones, is an awesome little tool for learning from the life of Jesus. It includes coach-style questions to ask yourself, like, "What legacy are you leaving behind?" and "What part of growth do you not want?" It's a gem, it's not all preachy, and the chapters are short so you can read it in the bathroom if that's all you have time for. (If your kids don't still come right on in, that is.)

Take Time for Your Life, by Cheryl Richardson, is a wonderful tool for ridding your life of the "good" that's preventing you from getting the "best." Definitely read and follow this plan if you've had just about enough of trying to do it all.
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Web Sites to Visit

I'm not claiming these are the best sites on the Web. They're simply ones that I've found useful.

loveandlogic.com: My very favorite parenting site, of course.

familyfun.com: Lots of great ideas for crafts, kid-friendly recipes, parenting dilemmas and more.

parenting.about.com: An incredible array of informative articles on just about any parenting topic you can possibly think of. There are actually many, many "about.com" websites — from ADD to zoology. Parenting.about.com is just one of them. There's also fatherhood.about.com. Check out the "abouts!"

parenthood.com: Gobs and gobs of information for parents

parentsroom.org: More parenting ideas, of course, but this site provides a ton of solutions and opinions from fellow parents in the trenches.

storypeople.com: This site has nothing to do with parenting, but I love it because of all of Brian Andreas' delightful writings. Pick a weird and wonderful poem you love to send in an e-card to someone special.

anysoldier.com: Did you know that the single most important item a soldier wants to receive is a note from home? A former Marine told me that troops will read the same letter over and over again, that some soldiers receive no mail at all, and that receiving a few words of encouragement and thanks from home can keep a soldier going for days, even if those words come from a complete stranger! This breaks my heart. I can’t imagine that a note from some Anonymous American would mean much at all, but I’m told over and over again that it means a great deal. Won’t you please click on this website and select a soldier to write to? Just a couple sentences is enough. Say something like, “Thank you for working to protect our nation and our world. You are our heroes and we think about and pray for you all the time.” What better way is there to show your pride and gratitude at being an American? Please do this. It’s a next-to-nothing activity on our part that can mean something so big to a lonely, tired, scared soldier so far from home.

hugsforchildren.com: This is the organization that receives 100% of the money my clients pay for my coaching. Please go there to see what wonderful things are being done for AIDS orphans and to see how you can help. (Maybe the best way for you to help is to hire me to coach you because then you’re not donating your money, I am!) You can read more about why I’m giving this organization my coaching money by clicking on the last portion of the Parent Coaching page.
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What the Media is Saying About Coaching

And parents paying to use these specialized coaches say they like getting the non-judgmental, confidential, and objective advice that friends and family can't always offer.
cbsnews.com June 23, 2003

Parents of every age, income level, and personal background seek coaching help. What these parents want, says KellyAnn Bonnell, a Phoenix-based parent coach, isn't wisdom from any great parenting authority. "They want me to give them solutions, and then they can choose the one that works best," she says.
Better Homes and Gardens, February 2004

More and more folks are finding that nothing beats having your own personal Bela Karolyi to help negotiate the balance beams and the uneven bars of life.
Time Magazine, Fall 2000

Soon a coach will be seen as someone you have as a matter of course to make your life run efficiently, like an accountant.
Sunday Magazine, The Sunday Telegraph, July 1999

A personal coach can help you by getting you to spell out what it is that you really want and then working with you to make the changes that actually enable you to get there.
The Vancouver Province, 2000

Many people are hiring coaches for all areas of their lives including career, personal, sports, business, skill enhancement, and life balance.
Family Therapy News, April/May, 2000

The coaching process proved simple, straightforward and astonishingly effective.
Vive, Summer 1999/2000

It's a phenomenon that is growing in popularity around
the globe in such places as England, Russia, Australia
and the USA.
Harper's Bazaar, September 1999

The skills required by a life coach involve a dexterous combination of commitment and common sense, and unlike opinionated relatives, complacent colleagues and jaded friends, a life coach has only one vested interest — to see people access their unique potential and realize long-held dreams.
Nature & Health, August/September, 1999
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When it's time for bed, don't say, "Go brush your teeth and put on your jammies." Say, "What would you rather do first, brush your teeth or put on your jammies?"

Make sure your children know what they are good at. Is he particularly generous? Does she relate beautifully to younger children? Not everyone's success is measurable by grades or goals.

Do NOT buy your child a car. Period.

Especially if you're rarely alone with your child, celebrate it when you are by announcing, "Girl time!" or "Dad and Janie time!" even if it's only a short drive in the car.

Tell your kids, "I'm so proud of you," and say it sometimes for no reason, so they'll look surprised and ask, "Why?" which will enable you to list some reasons.

Dads, make sure your sons know it's OK to cry sometimes, and that your daughters know you think they're beautiful.

Even very young children can help with Sunday assembly lines packing the week's lunches. Getting snacks, desserts, and juice pouches all ready is fun and relieves pressure on busy weekday mornings.