Rita Reviews

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Raising Kids to Thrive: Balancing Love With Expectations and Protection With Trust

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Raising Kids to Thrive

book review disclosure

Raising kids is not the easiest job in the world! That is of course the understatement of the year! The one thing that helps us accomplish is getting advice. That is correct ADVICE! I know that from the moment our children are born we don’t want anyone else’s input or advice but trust me when I say that without that advice we do not have the proper tools. Raising Kids to Thrive: Balancing Love With Expectations and Protection With Trust is full of wonderful advice to help us accomplish that.

About the Book

From award-winning author Ken Ginsburg comes this new work which explores an innovative idea in parenting: “The Lighthouse Parenting Strategy.” 
 
Dr. Ginsburg’s previous work includes “Building Resilience in Children and Teens” which offers a comprehensive overview of strategies to build resilience and promote the kind of traits that lead to our children becoming happy, successful adults.  This book offers a deeper dive into two fundamental questions over which parents struggle: 1) How do I give my child the unconditional love he needs to thrive, while also holding him to high expectations? and 2) How do I protect my child while also letting her learn life’s lessons? 
 
“We should be like lighthouses for our children; beacons of light on a stable shoreline from which they can safely navigate the world.  We must make certain they don’t crash against the rocks, but trust they have the capacity to learn to ride the waves on their own.”
 
This book is rooted in proven concepts from the positive youth development and resilience frameworks and combines new research with expert opinion to help parents consider how to approach these toughest of questions. 
 
This book is cowritten by Dr. Ginsburg’s two teenaged daughters, Ilana and Talia Ginsburg, and perspectives from over 500 teens are also part of this groundbreaking work.

My Thoughts

Raising Kids to Thrive: Balancing Love With Expectations and Protection With Trust was a fairly a quick read that I thoroughly enjoyed. It is filled with some very good advice and I know that some of it is going to come in handy now that my oldest is a teen. I struggles as it is with giving any of my children more freedom due to my own upbringing and past. It is something that I am working on through the advice in this book I know that I am much better equipped to deal with it.  Another great topic of this book is expectations which can be an area all parents struggle with. Parent have so many expectations of their children that we tend to push harder than we mean to. 

This book has shown me how to look more closely at what each of my children need individually. It’s fine if one child is an A student while another is not. Forcing them to do sports or even make straight As all the time is not going to help them in the long run. Again this is something I know of from my childhood as well. One thing that I always felt was that more was expected of me than it was expected of my siblings. This book  helped me learn how to accept my children for who they are, and more importantly love them even more for it. 

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. This book sounds like a must read. With 3 kids of my own, I often find myself comparing them. I know it’s not right or healthy, but so easy to get caught up in!

  3. What a impressive book, love that it has perspectives from over 500 teens. Great book for advice and learning through your own kids. I love quick reads like this too.

  4. I always can use advice! I always say, there’s nothing wrong with asking a question. How else would you know anything, if you don’t ask? 🙂 Thanks

  5. It is hard raising kids today. It’s a lot about balance. I have a teenager and a middle school student.

  6. Wow this sounds like a really good book. I’m usually not to crazy about most parenting books because they lump all kids together. I think you have to look at each of your children as individuals. Thanks for the great info. I will have to check this out. I also love that it’s co-written with his daughters!!

  7. I must get this book. It addresses a lot of the concerns I have towards the future and how to steer ;my son in the right direction.

  11. I think the questions are spot on , especially with teens. Its a hard thing to balance. I might check out the light house parenting strategy.

  12. Thank you for sharing about this wonderful book. I know it is full of wisdom. Im glad you include your honest opinions of books in your reviews and im glad you found this one helpful. .

  13. This does sound like an excellent book to help guide parents about finding a right balance with each child and as they grow.