I have long been a fan of the Love and Logic Institute’s child rearing philosophy. But to be honest, I’m far from perfect at consistently using it with my girls. With it being summer, and our having more “together” time than during the school year, I knew I had to do something to help us all have a fun, enjoyable summer with minimal conflicts. We’ve been having too many sibling arguments, and not enough “tuning in” to requests made by my husband and myself. The frustration level has been growing for all of us.
I decided to check out Love and Logic’s website to see if they had any materials that could help me get back on track. Sure enough, they have TONS of great information, including some most wonderful MP3 downloads. The Love and Logic Institute agreed to my reviewing two of these handy MP3 downloads.
First, A Little About Love and Logic’s Parenting Philosophy
Perhaps you haven’t heard of Love and Logic before. In a nutshell, Parenting with Love and Logic is a philosophy based on a belief that children develop a strong self-image and problem solving skills when parents hold their children accountable for their actions. Parents do this by balancing supportive guidance with firm expectations and an ability to remove themselves from the conflict. This not only means kids learn how to problem solve for themselves – a most important life skill – but also removes the parent from the “bad guy” rule enforcer role. For more information on their philosophy, and practical applications, check out the “What is Love and Logic for Parents?” section on their website.
Love and Logic’s “Solutions” with Jim Fay MP3 Download
This 120 minute download is chockful of simple, practical advice on: raising responsible children, disciplining without anger or threats, ending sibling arguing, raising kids who can cope, and even avoiding conflicts with curfews. One of the most helpful parts for me was where Jim broke the discipline of our children into 3 Simple Rules:
- Take Good Care of Ourselves as Parents – Model the behaviors we want to see in our kids. For example, if a demanding child has us wagging our finger and loudly saying, “For the last time, stop yelling!” this certainly isn’t modeling how we want our kids to behave. Rather, we need to calmly respond with, “I’ll be happy to talk with you when your voice matches mine.”
- Give Kids Choices Whenever Reasonable – Build up a “control savings account” with your children, allowing them to call the shots on the little things. Then, you can make a “withdrawl” when you take charge on the important things.
- Let Consequences with Empathy Do the Teaching – Help your kids learn how to problem solve for themselves by letting them make mistakes when they are young, and the consequences are affordable. Take yourself out of the bad guy role, and instead empathize with your child and their dilemma. Empathy allows the child to connect the consequence to their poor choice rather than to their parent’s anger.
These rules need to be my mantra!
Love and Logic’s “Keeping Cool When Parenting Heats Up” MP3 Download
Patience is not always my strong suit, especially when my girls are pushing my buttons – this 51 minute recording was definitely made for me! This recording was great because it gave specific examples of tools to use to ensure that you can stay calm and empathetic in the midst of parenting dilemmas. Practical ideas like:
- Memorize one single empathetic statement to use
- Delay consequences until you can react calmly
- Set limits once, then follow through with loving action
- Model the behaviors you want to see
What Makes Love and Logic’s Speedy MP3 Downloads Worthwhile?
First off, they are jam-packed with great parenting information, and lots of “how to” examples. Secondly, these MP3 downloads are so convenient for me use – again and again and again. There is much to learn with Love and Logic’s parenting philosophy. Even the experts encourage you to incorporate a couple strategies at a time. Having the MP3 that I can listen to at home, in the car, at the gym, while walking around the block – is such a big help for me.
The selection of downloads is great. I encourage you to take the time to look over Love and Logic’s website, and all it has to offer. There’s even a section of free learning aids , broken down by age groups, that you can print at home.
Happy Parenting!
This was not a paid post. My own opinions were used based on my perceptions and experience. Thank you to Love and Logic for providing the product for review.
