Gentle, Effective, Loving Parenting: Free Book Giveaway!

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Gentle, Effective, Loving Parenting: Free Book Giveaway!

“Why can’t you guys just get along?! Stop with the fault finding and nit picking already!”

Being a mother of 5, the home is ever evolving. Just when I think I am ‘on top of things’ and have a parenting aspect figured out, up pops another problem. Isn’t this the way with every parent? No matter how good you are at reading scriptures, praying, and teaching The Gospel to your kids, no one is immune to kids fighting, arguing and complaining…or are they?

One night, when I was in the midst of having one of those, ‘What do I do?’ moments with kids fighting, I felt prompted to pick up a book that has been sitting on my shelf – unread – for over a year.

I am no stranger to parenting books. In fact, being a birth professional, I had read quite a few and felt like up until that moment, they had served me well, but now all those books had run out of answers for me.

As I read and read, not only did the author become my (better) friend, because she has gone through the same turmoil I was in the midst of, but I gained hope.

Real life, real simple, correct principles in action

That’s exactly what I needed. Her experiences and hope and proof that it is possible for kids to get along, obey and like each other without resorting to screaming, yelling and tears was just what I needed! Could it be? Yes!

I’ll be honest, I don’t know if I would have been at apt to believe it had I not known this woman personally. I knew she wasn’t lying or sugar coating anything!

Now, while I said ‘real simple’, I didn’t say 'no work', did I? Yes, this takes some self disciple on your part, but it is so worth it. The amazing thing was, I started see results right away which even only one change on my part. It wasn’t taking a lot of energy, just a lot of commitment and the more I saw results, the more I motivated I was to add on another tip or trick.

Parents, this book is a life saver, especially if you have teens.

But please don’t wait till you have teens! How I wish I had read this years ago, so I could nip things in the bud and not have to correct any bad behavior, just prevent it altogether!

So, what book am I talking about?

A House United: Changing Children’s Hearts by Teaching Self Government by Nicholeen Peck.

I had heard about Nicholeen after Becca and I had newly formed the LDS Holistic Living Conference. Becca had gone to a presentation of hers and was incredibly impressed. We had heard that Nichooleen’s family had done an episode of the BBC edition of World’s Strictest Parents and of course I had to check it out. I was amazed. At the beginning of the show I thought, “Good luck, Nicholeen!” and by the end of the show these kids didn’t want to leave her home!

I did some more digging and found out that not only had Nicholeen parented these kids from this show for a few weeks, and her own four children, but that she and her husband had been foster parents for many other troubled teens! We invited Nicholeen to speak at the 2012 LDS Holistic Living Conference and she will be back in 2012 by popular demand!

The things I found most helpful in Nicholeen’s book was first, admitting that I was part of the problem and what I needed to do to improve and then inspire my children. I live by the motto, “The only person you can control is yourself”. That motto can either be liberating (‘I don’t really need to worry about changing anyone but me’) or scary (‘If I can’t control anyone else, how is anything going to change?’). Also, creating a family vision was essential for my kids. Seeing the big picture decades down the road is something I and my kids refer to over and over. It’s a fantastic tool that I had only had passing thoughts of here and there, but not thought to use it as a parenting tool. And then the mission statement created by the whole family. We actually took a spin on this suggestion and created ‘The Jones Family Commandments’ and everyone has agreed to obey - and accept the consequences of – breaking the commandments.

These three things alone, implemented over a 2 week period, has drastically improved the tone of the home! I am so passionate about this book and Nicholeen’s approach that I am doing something I have never done before on this blog…..

As a special Christmas and New Years treat, I have teamed up with Nicholeen to offer one of you a FREE copy of A House United.

Enter to Win:

On December 24^th we will announce the winner, so enter and then spread the word quickly! Everyone who posts a comment on this blog post, and likes Nicholeen and I on facebook will be in the running for a free book. All names will be put in a hat and drawn out on the morning of December 24^th.

Link to Nicholeen's facebook

Link to LDS Holistic Living’s facebook

Nicholeen’s Blog and Book

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