How to Create Happy Kids!

How to Create Happy Kids!

The goal of parents everywhere is to have happy kids since happy kids mean happy parents.  But what if you are struggling to find that right balance between happiness for you and happiness for your kids?  Well, you may look no further than this book written to help parents through this dilemma.

Written by our good friend, Shirin Sherkat Psy.D., Create Happy Kids provides practical parenting solutions to create motivated, respectful and compliant kids.  The book starts with a definition of a happy kid which is broken down into twelve important factors including feeling honored and loved unconditionally.  Important factors for everyone, not just kids.

The rest of the book is divided into 12 sections.  Each section covers a different topic on creating happy kids.  Parents learn how to understand their kid’s perspective, what motivates their children and how to use that motivation to create greater harmony in the home.

Dr. Sherkat gives an excellent example of how to use the tools she is teaching with a story about her four year old nephew.  Her nephew was yelling a Christmas carol for well over an hour, yelling not singing, and driving everyone to distraction.

Recognizing that her nephew was yelling for attention as he felt ignored, Dr. Sherkat approached him and asked to film him singing his favorite song. Notice that she asked him to sing, not yell and that she would tape him only if he was singing, not yelling.

Her nephew happily complied.  His negative behavior was ignored, his positive behavior was rewarded and as Dr. Sherkat concluded, yelling at him to stop yelling would not have solved the situation.

I have heard Dr. Sherkat speak several times and she continually stresses that it is important to listen to and acknowledge your child.  In her many interviews with families, she has found that this is what children want most from their parents.  And in the end that is also what we want most from our children.

After reading the book Create Happy Kids, you will have the tools to create children who will listen and also learn how to increase your own listening skills.

Leave a comment about this blog post and enter to win an inscribed copy of Create Happy Kids. Comments must be left by 12 midnight PST on Friday, April 20th, 2012.