The Seven Worst Thing Parents Do

Friel, John C.

ISBN 10: 1558747370 ISBN 13: 9781558747371

Publisher: Hci, 1999

Synopsis

Discusses such issues as babying one's child, putting one's marriage last, pushing a child into too many activities, and failing to give a child structure

About this title

From the Author

For The 90's, Not The 50's
Linda and I wrote this book because as practicing clinicians, and as parents of 3 grown children, we have found these 7 things to be increasingly troublesome over the past decade, especially for middle and upper-middle-class families. The graduate classes that I teach to school teachers in the Minneapois area confirm this as well--it is not understatement to say that teachers have begun to despair over the lack of impulse control, immaturity, and poor emotional intelligence on the part of many (not all) of their students; as well as the over-scheduling of so many students to the point of emotional numbness. This book was based on lecture and clinical material that we have been using and refining for 10-15 years, and so, as many reviewers in the press have written, the material is not only timely but also timeless. We hope the book prompts or prods some readers to re-evaluate their lives and the lives of their children.

We should also note that a return to the 50's is not only impossible, but not particularly desirable given the many negatives that accompanied the fantasy of bliss to which some people would like to return. For example, alcoholism, incest, and child abuse were swept under the carpet and simply not addressed (at least not nearly as much as today) so that the majority of people from painful families just had to grin and bear it as they tried to leave home and go out into the world. Longing for times past, in our clinical and personal views, is usually a sign of some unresolved therapeutic issue, such as a fear of change or difficulty in adjusting to change, or both.

We want to thank the more than 150,000 of you who have read this book so far, and the many of you who have written to us with your appreciative comments. As with our previous 5 books, all we hope for is that the reader is stimulated to think a bit, and maybe even make a change or two.

About this edition

• Publisher: Hci
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 1558747370
• ISBN 13: 9781558747371
• Binding: Audio Cassette