How to Live With Your Children and Like Them

by Clyde F. Boyle

Book by Boyle, Clyde F.

Genres: Nonfiction

143 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1976

Reviews

[Darla]

Rather timeless advice. Yes, the language is a bit dated, being written in 1976, but that shouldn't diminish the value of the words. In all likelihood, feminist heads will explode, and people who want to makes more of parenting today than it was in yesteryear will download it as archaic, but what else is new? It's got plenty of solid advice and says all that is needed to be said sometimes. A solid forerunner to Love and Logic.

[Erica Krueger]

This book was a nice review of things I learned in my Marriage, Family, and Human Development major (I graduated from college 6 years ago, so I needed it). Most of it wasn't new to me, but he brought up some good points. I'm glad I read it.

The book was written in the 1970's and is a bit outdated for issues I think face today's families (and children), but the principles he based the book on are timeless, such as, parents are the authorities in their families, and it is important to understand feelings that guide behaviors, teach your child to work, parents need to work together in disciplining and parenting, etc. With that said, I thought he was ahead of his time in many areas, which was impressive to me.

I feel that today's families are much more complicated than families of the past, and the issues that today's children face are much more complicated and severe. He brings up drugs and alcohol many times as (it seemed to me) the worst thing a child could have to face in life. When I think of my child and what she will face in this life, of course I worry about drugs and alcohol and permissiveness, but mostly I worry about the more subtle things like disrespect, laziness, quality of education, modesty, quality of friends, lack of ambition, etc. that seem to permeate our society today (especially the younger generation). I also worry about the more severe issues related to cell phones, communication in families between teens and parents, etc. None of those issues are addressed specifically here (for obvious reasons), but I think parents could use principles taught to apply them to those new issues facing today's children.

I'd recommend this book as a refresher, keeping in mind that it offers a simple perspective to what can sometimes be a complex issue.

One more thing: I also appreciated that the book is not filled with statistics out the wazoo, but rather just summarizes studies or personal experiences. It was much easier to read this way. It doesn't have a "textbook" feel to it.

[Megan]

Once you get past the slightly sexist and outdated sections of the book, there are some very valuable points that have helped me become a far more patient parent. I'm happily setting expectations for my kids and they are happy to know what is expected of them. I think we're all a whole lot less stressed, and we're not screaming anymore!

[Michelle]

The intention of this book is good, but it was honestly just a bunch of common sense stuff. It was also written in the 70's so it was definitely outdated. Overall, I didn't learn anything new, so it wasn't a great read for me.

[Lisa M.]

My mom gave this to my dad for father's day in 1975 ... it's still good.

[Tami]

Some good advice on child-rearing and setting consistent limits. The book was written some 30 years ago, and much of the information is surprisingly applicable.

[Steffenie]

Had some good advice, but more for problems with older kids, not really the day to day temper tantrums with little kids.