DO YOU NEED CALMER, EASIER, HAPPIER PARENTING?
How many times do you have to ask your kids to do something
before they do it?
a) Six to ten times and then you blow your top
b) Two to six with a rising pitch of hysteria in your voice
c) Just once, and they do it!
How often are you feeling stressed and rushed to get
your kids to school or to other events?
a) all the time
b) quite a lot
c) very rarely
How well do your children get on?
a) fine – so long as they’re in different hemispheres
b) constant bickering and teasing
c) pretty well mostly with occasional squabbling
What are mealtimes like in your house?
a) a battleground where food is a weapon of mass destruction – kids talk over each other, complain about the food,
and have the manners of cave men
b) relatively calm when the TV is on but otherwise a nightmare
c) generally relaxed, a chance to catch up on what everyone has been doing and the kids willingly try new foods
How do you and your partner resolve parenting disagreements?
a) you don’t, you just do your own thing
b) in a shouting match at the end of a long day of challenging behaviour
c) over a glass of wine when the children are in bed
If your answers are mostly a) and b) then you need Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting!
Noël has never lost her passion for teaching and learning and eventually achieved her dream of opening The Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting Centre in London, where classes are offered year-round for parents and teaching professionals. Noël’s parenting strategies have been the subject of numerous books, newspaper columns and television features in England and the U.S.
WHO’S BEHIND THIS BOOK?
Noël Janis-Norton, creator of Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting, is an internationally renowned expert on the learning and behaviour of children.
In a career spanning more than forty years, Noël has transformed the lives of tens of thousands of families on both sides of the Atlantic with her practical and effective parenting techniques that vastly improve listening and cooperation and reduce family stress.
A graduate of teacher-training college at New York University, Noël’s early success in teaching and managing behaviour in the classroom naturally led to consulting with families. She began sharing the specific strategies that she found worked right away to help children become not only more cooperative, but also more confident, motivated, self-reliant and considerate. Gradually, she put all the strategies into one comprehensive package and named the method Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting.
What Calmer, Easier, Happier Parents say
“These parenting skills have totally changed our way of approaching things – my family hasn’t shouted in five weeks and there’s so much less tension at home!”
“These techniques really work – the best reward of all is seeing my son’s happiness and self-confidence return.”
“I was dumbfounded to watch the resistance and defiance we have experienced for years either dissolve or be completely avoided using these positive strategies.”
WHAT IS CALMER, EASIER, HAPPIER PARENTING?
Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting arms parents with very simple strategies that take the daily battles out of parenting. The strategies are immediately effective for solving what parents say frustrates them the most: having to repeat instructions countless times before their children do what they ask them to do. With this powerful communication approach, soon parents only have to ask once to get their child to listen and cooperate.
This is a revolutionary concept for parents. They are used to repeating, reminding, bargaining, bribing and threatening to get their children to cooperate, and they are desperate for a better way.
Time and again, parents say that these methods have completely changed their way of approaching things and transformed family life. They frequently come to this programme at their wits' end because family life has become a battleground of defiance, arguments and disrespect. But once they start using the practical and effective skills of Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting, within a small space of time they can transform their relationship with their child and bring the joy back into parenting.
Family life becomes calmer, children are more cooperative, parents feel less frustrated and more in charge, siblings get on better with fewer disagreements, and family flash points such as homework, chores, bedtimes and mealtimes all become less of a struggle. Parenting becomes calmer, easier and happier.
So what are some of the core strategies of Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting?
Descriptive Praise – the most powerful motivator for children. When parents start using Descriptive Praise, their children want to listen and be cooperative. This skill is about noticing what children are doing right and very specifically describing that behaviour. It’s not how parents usually praise. They normally lay on the superlatives, like “Well done”, “Brilliant” and “Terrific”, but this praise is too general, vague and exaggerated to be meaningful to kids.
With very specific praise, such as, “You finished your homework before asking to play video games; that was responsible,” children’s ears perk up, and it motivates them to do more things right.
Preparing for Success – the most effective way to reduce children’s resistance to almost anything and to prevent most behaviour problems from happening in the first place. With this tool, parents learn specific ways to help their children succeed – to do things right – instead of reacting with irritation when things go wrong.
Reflective Listening – once parents begin using this almost magical way of responding when kids are angry, frustrated or anxious, the strong emotions that ignite misbehaviours can literally melt away.
Never Ask Twice – the six step method to achieve cooperation. As parents follow these common sense steps, they can say goodbye to nagging, repeating and reminding and say hello to first time cooperation.
Best of all is that these strategies improve not only cooperation, but also confidence, self-reliance, motivation and consideration – five qualities that all parents want their children to develop.
As parents follow the specific action plan in each chapter, they can transform family life within a few short weeks. Loaded with success stories from parents, examples, parent-child dialogues and Q & A, this book gives parents a complete road map to achieve Calmer, Easier, Happier Parenting.