Unconditional Parenting: Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason

Unconditional Parenting

Moving from Rewards and Punishments to Love and Reason

2005 • 272 pages

Ratings1

Average rating5

15

The message of this book can be boiled down to two statements: show kids unconditional love and take time to see things from their perspective. All the advice flows from these two concepts. The idea is that unconditional love and seeing life from a child's perspective will create a relationship based on trust and respect, encouraging kids to think for themselves and grow into healthier, smarter adults.

What I liked:
- Gives great reasoning for why punishment and/or rewards train people to think about themselves more and what others think of them than to act out of care for others.
- Encourages parents to help their children think for themselves.
- Gives advice based on concepts rather than outlining specific steps to follow that may not work for every person.
- Author encourages parents to strive to be better parents while accepting no parent will ever be perfect.

What I didn't like:
- Some thoughts are left a little too open. The author could have more guided questions for parents new to this philosophy to help get them get on board.

This book shares my goal of raising my boy to think for himself and to see things from other people's perspective while maintaining a healthy mental health. Highly recommended.

January 9, 2016Report this review