Stop Reacting and Start Responding by Sharon Silver

Stop Reacting and Start Responding
108 Ways to Discipline Consciously and
Become the Parent You Want to Be
by
Sharon Silver, Parent Educator

Imagine . . .

• Cor­rect­ing your child with­out yelling
• Your child lis­ten­ing with­out arguing
• A parent/child rela­tion­ship that enhances self esteem for everyone

What makes this book different?

There are many won­der­ful books out there shar­ing new ways to par­ent. The ques­tion is, “Do you have the emo­tional capac­ity, or time, to read about a new method when you’re in the mid­dle of a whirl­wind of anger or reac­tions?” Stop React­ing and Start Respond­ing™ addresses that issue.

When a par­ent is involved in a whirl­wind of emo­tions, anger or reac­tions, it’s hard to think. Being too emo­tional to think also makes it dif­fi­cult to search for answers to change what’s going on so you can arrive at a calmer out­come.

Stop React­ing and Start Respond­ing™:

• Is a no-nonsense, reality-based book writ­ten in the “blog” style, using short, con­cise tips
• Offers quick reminders of what to do when a par­ent and/or child is react­ing
• Tack­les the emo­tions that are pro­duced dur­ing the every­day sit­u­a­tions that par­ents face
• Explores a dif­fer­ent way to look at sit­u­a­tions, and shares a new per­spec­tive that ignites a parent’s own wis­dom, allow­ing them to resolve sit­u­a­tions calmly, lov­ingly, and firmly
• Allows par­ents to enjoy the read and then use it as a tool to remind and sup­port them when they or their child are reacting

A per­fect exam­ple would be, when a child says, “No!” A lot of par­ent­ing infor­ma­tion only addresses how to stop a child from say­ing “No!” Stop React­ing and Start Respond­ing™ explores why a child might be say­ing “No!” and shows a par­ent how to acknowl­edge those emo­tions, while teach­ing the child what they should be doing instead.  And does it all with­out punishment.

Sharon Silver is a proud mom, an educator and a powerful speaker. Her sense of humor, and teaching style, make her easy to listen to, and creates a trustworthy environment for learning. Her mission has always been to create programs that help parents focus on what else can be done instead of going straight to punishment. Proactive Parenting™ is the result of that mission.

With an education in Parenting and Early Childhood Development, four certifications as a Parent Educator, as a facilitator for The Cline/Fay Institute and Redirecting Children's Behavior, and with practical experience as the mother of two young adults, there’s very little she hasn’t seen.

Sharon has worked in Corporate America, for small and large businesses, as well as owned her own comedy club with her husband of 31 years. As a result, Sharon understands the pressure parents face each day as they try to balance all that’s on their plates.

She has been a radio and TV host, and is currently the host of Stop Reacting-Start Responding on MomTV.com.

Heidi Says . . . As the mother of 3 children, ages 17, 10, and 4, I’ll be the first person to tell you that there is no perfect child.  You know why?  Because there is no perfect parent!  Yes, there it is – right out here on my blog for all the world to see – I’m NOT perfect!  And neither are my kids. But then, you already knew that, didn’t you?

One thing I’ve learned in life, and even more so as an adult and homeschool mom, is that we are never done learning.  So, if you want to strive toward developing perfect kids, then you have to strive toward developing a closer-to-perfect you.  And, in order to do that, sometimes you need to do a little research in order to learn. 

Stop Reacting and Start Responding is a great book for helping with that.  With chapters covering topics on behavior, choices, feelings, frustration, grandparents, learning, out in public, power struggles, reacting, real life, rules, self-esteem, separation anxiety, siblings, and travel, there’s pretty much something in this book for just about any scenario you can think of!  (Notice how the chapters are organized in ABC order – the crazy planner in me really appreciates that!) 

Each chapter is further divided up into subcategories.  Though I’d recommend reading through the book from beginning to end, if you’re having a really frustrating day, you might be able to find just the section you are needing at the time and read the advice quickly.  For example, if my kids are spatting over a toy or game, I can turn in the Table of Contents to the Sibling chapter (#14), look under Sharing, and turn to that section. 

I love that each section is short and simple to read.  And, even better for the busy mom, is the Quick View section at the end of each section that breaks it down into short, but effective, bullet points.  In the instance of Sharing (for younger children), here are the Quick Tips:

• Sharing is a concept that’s barely understood by a young
child, so is it really fair to punish a child for not being able
to do it?
• A better way to handle sharing is to apply a little redirecting
magic, it’s worth trying.

Though a lot of the parenting tips in this book are basic common sense, it’s really nice to have this handy-dandy parenting reference guide.  We parents get burned out, worn out, exhausted, and crazy at times.  It’s nice to know we’re not alone in those feelings, and that there’s a place to go for positive reinforcement. 

I’d recommend Stop Reacting and Start Responding.  Stop “flying off the handle” and learn how to respond in a more effective way. 

You can find out more about Sharon Silver by visiting her on Facebook, Twitter, or her website Proactive Parenting.

NOTE: I am a participant in a Living My MoMent campaign for Proactive Parenting™ and have received the e-book Stop Reacting and Start Responding™ by Sharon Silver as part of my participation.