Dr. Ray Guarendi has been recommended to me many times, by many different people. Recently, though, I finally tracked down one of his books, You’re a Better Parent than You Think!: A Guide to Common-Sense Parenting, from our library, because I had been curious long enough. It was time to buckle down and just read his book for myself!
It’s not that I think I’m a bad parent. It’s not that I think parenting advice books are generally helpful (which is why I don’t read them). It’s that I’ve heard Dr. Ray on the radio and via a podcast, and he always makes me nod, laugh, and rethink things. It’s that I’ve seen his techniques and his mind-set at work through friends, and it’s a better path to peace in parenthood.
It was worth it, and now I feel convicted in having it on my wish list. Using humor and common-sense (which he often calls “good-sense,” and I like that), he outlines principles that make sense. This is a book that I think anyone who’s a parent should read. It’s not a hard read, and he’ll have you laughing. Whether or not you get any tips you’ll use (I bet you will!), this book will help you see your role as a parent for what it is: the most important, and the hardest, job you’ll ever have. Dr. Ray bolsters your intuition and boosts your confidence and gives you some practical ideas and mind-sets.
And, best of all, it’s not that crack-psychology junkola you find lining the best-seller lists. Nope, this is the real deal, a book that actually HELPS. Dr. Ray writes in a down-to-earth way, and he makes no bones about it: YOU are the parent and YOU can do it.
