‘Pride & Joy’ Helps Parents Better Handle Children’s Emotions

The parenting section of your local bookstore is inundated with so-called hidden secrets we cannot raise out children without.

A few months after purchase, though, many of these books tend to find a nice home on the shelf or are passed on to friends who are expecting. I can’t tell you how many parenting books I have received from people who found the information no longer relevant after about the first nine months of their child’s lives.

However, child psychologist Kenneth Barish’s latest book Pride & Joy: A Guide to Understanding Your Child’s Emotions and Solving Family Problems is a must-have manual full of valuable information for all stages of development.

You will not want to pass this on to your friends after you are finished reading. You will want to keep Pride & Joy it handy for all its great advice and insight on dealing with the rollercoaster of childhood emotions to come for years ahead.

We are reminded throughout the book that children and adults alike want to be listened to and felt appreciated, and that we all need help in managing difficult emotions. The book is written in clear, easy to understand language, and is essential for helping to raise children in a positive, caring environment.

Barish aims to provide parents with a better understanding of all aspects of our children’s emotions. It thoroughly covers common problems such as:

• establishing rules and limits,
• doing homework,
• going to sleep, and
• technology’s place in our kids lives.

To the author’s credit, Pride & Joy is more general in nature and contains information that, although unnecessary during my kids’ toddler years, should prove helpful throughout their youth.

I highly recommend this book to all parents that are interested in a better understanding of their children’s’ feelings. According to Barish, when we do this, “we not only help them feel better, we help them do better — in all aspects of their lives.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bryan Grossbauer is an actor, musician, former teacher and full-time stay at home dad to two children. He and his wife, Erin O’Callaghan, live in New Rochelle and enjoy traveling, hiking, and live music.