No Regrets Parenting, Updated and Expanded Edition: Turning Long Days and Short Years into Cherished Moments with Your Kids

by Harley A. Rotbart

For every type of family, this updated and expanded edition is the quintessential, open-to-all parenting guidebook, guaranteed to help you find more—and better—time for your kids and yourself.

It's not just how much time you have with your kids, but how you spend that time that matters in the life and legacy of a family. No Regrets Parenting focuses on the simple truth that the long days of busy parenting race quickly by and, looking back someday, the years with kids will feel far too short. Written by renowned pediatrician, celebrated author, and distinguished parenting expert, Dr. Harley Rotbart,  No Regrets Parenting, Updated and Expanded Edition  helps parents readjust their perspectives and priorities. Dr. Rotbart teaches parents how to experience the joy and depth of the parenting experience amidst the chaos and choreography of daily routines. Carpool, bedtime, bath time, soccer practice, homework, dinner hour, and sleepovers all become more than just obligations and hurdles to overcome. They become opportunities for intimate and meaningful time with kids— opportunities to turn fleeting minutes into memorable moments.

Your kids need to see who you are and how you live your life. And, in return, they will help you to see who you really are and how you should be living your life. For all of that to happen, families need memorable and meaningful time together.  No Regrets Parenting  is about time—finding enough of it and making the most of it.

Accompanying this timeless advice, Dr. Rotbart has added timely, updated content to address the ever-changing needs of today’s busy families. Also in this edition are two brand new "Parenting Young Adult Children" (because parenting doesn’t end with high school graduation) and "No Regrets Grandparenting" for those magical years when your children become parents! Oh my! This updated and expanded edition answers the ageless How can you do it all…and stay sane in the process?

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

304 pages, Paperback

Published September 28, 2021

About the author

Dr. Harley Rotbart is a nationally-recognized parenting expert, pediatrician, speaker, and educator. He serves on the Advisory Boards of Parents Magazine and Parents.com, and previously was a member of the Advisory Board of Children’s Health Magazine. He regularly speaks to large national audiences of parents, school, and youth sports organizations, as well as to community groups around the country. Dr. Rotbart also speaks widely to national professional organizations of physicians, nurses, and allied health professionals.

Reviews

[Asma · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Regrets Parenting is a guide to have a future without regrets as a parent. How to harness every opportunity to have a quality time with your kids. So not to regret even the tiny fleeting moments.

What I came to focus on after this book is giving your kid even a half hour a day of undivided attention is a great deal.

He tackled the journey of the kids until adulthood. With a part dedicated to no regrets grandparenting.

P.S. I received this audiobook thanks to NetGalley and the publisher in exchange of a review.

[Hayley Rutherford · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Regrets Parenting was my first read in the parental self-help genre. I went into this one with an open mind, as I do not have any kids of my own, and tried to set aside my own upbringing to fully absorb what the author was saying. I gave this audiobook 3 stars- it seemed pretty middle-of-the-road in my opinion and didn’t really offer any groundbreaking advice. Of course, my mind may change once I have children, but for now this is my opinion.

I was very on board the first few chapters. I even started taking notes on the book because I thought it was very good content and would serve me well when I become a mother. I was particularly interested in the 8 essential requirements of kids but, like I said, none of it was groundbreaking. Kids need security, stability, consistency, emotional support, love, education, positive role models, and structure. Rotbart dives into each of those a little bit further, saying kids need their lives to be disrupted as little as possible, need a group of like-minded individuals to surround them and make them feel included and accepted, and need parents who are on the same page. All of this advice makes sense, and I agreed with everything in the early sections of the book.

Then, Rotbart goes off the rails a little too much for me to be on board with him. I agreed with the gist of the book- spend as much time you can *handle* with your kids so that when they are grown, you don’t have regrets. The MEANS to which Rotbart suggests accomplishing said task was not the way I would go about it. For example, he suggested saying no to having your child sleepover with friends, or say yes on the condition that the sleepover happens at your home. That way you, as the parent, can dictate what food your kid eats, what time they go to sleep, and what time they wake up. All while preaching “teach your kid independence” and “time with friends is important”. His reasoning? “You don’t want another parent telling your kid what to do”. I’m sorry, but if your child will be soured beyond repair after a single night away from home, I believe there is a bigger issue at play. Also, maybe I want a night of peace with my husband and having my kid shipped off to a friend’s house is just the way to have a childless night????

I felt this was a good start to my parenting research. It certainly didn’t hinder anything, make me have any “aha” moments, or shoot me down any rabbit holes, but I thought it was refreshing to hear a glaringly obvious suggestion and how one person would approach the end goal of raising your kids and having no regrets when they leave the nest.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review! This book is set to be published on September 28th, 2021.

[Alex Malm · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Regrets Parenting offers advice on how to make the most of your time with your children. It is broken into very short chapters and emphasizes limiting distractions (for both you and your kids), being intentional, and developing a strong child-parent relationship. The advice was practical, yet not groundbreaking and although the tone was generally positive, I did feel a bit lectured to at certain points.

What I liked:

This book centered the reader on ways to make sure that you are spending time that counts with your children and not getting caught up in the day to day. I related to the idea that it is of the utmost importance to not deprive your kids of the 8 essential requirements:
1. Security
2. Stability
3. Consistency
4. Emotional support
5. Love
6. Education
7. Positive role models
8. Structure

I also liked the sections focused on grandparenting, and how parents should set boundaries and talk with their parents/in-laws about desired caretaking responsibilities and values.

What I didn’t like:

Some parts almost made me feel guilty for taking time to myself when needed. With a young child at home, it is crucial for me to take some “me” time so that I can offer my best self when I am home with my daughter. I don’t feel guilty about this when she is in the care of loving caretakers. At times, Rotbart seemed to emphasize that togetherness is the most important thing – and finding ways to include your kids in your day to day activities, even bringing them to work. I personally like to keep some boundaries, though I understood his intent.

As previously mentioned, I didn’t find that anything was especially revolutionary about the advice given. However, I did appreciate listening to this audiobook and considering how to apply (or not apply) the advice within my own family. If anything, it encouraged me to take a step back and think about what kind of parent I want to be.

[Erin · Rating 4 out of 5]

📖My Thoughts📖


I’ve never read any sort of parenting book before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. This was a pretty good book! It was easy to understand and follow and the way it stands, you can either read it all cover to cover, skip around, or even just read the parts that apply to you, which is nice. The book is very insightful and thought provoking, allowing you to see different approaches and methods to different scenarios which is pretty cool. I like how the author addressed his audience as being human (meaning we all have our way of doing things). It was very refreshing. This book brought up a lot of ways to open up spending more time with your kids and I will definitely be implementing some of these techniques with my own children. Whether you’re a first time parent, a parent of a few kids or a step parent, I this book has some useful tips and suggestions. This is something that would be a great addition to your book collection. I was granted the audiobook version of this book and the narrator was pretty animated.
Thank you Netgalley, Harley A. Rotbart and Andrews McMeel Audio for the opportunity to read and review this book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an audiobook from the publisher via netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The things I liked about this book were that the chapters are short and easy to start and stop when you are able. The narrator is easy to listen to. There is a lot of information given without being monotonous. There is some good tips on ways to increase you’re quality time with your kids. The author also does not endorse any one parenting style.

Things that I thought could be improved upon are that the book comes from a very privileged view point. Some of the activities that are casually mentioned are financially out of reach for many. The amount of time suggested to spend with your kids is unattainable for many parents. Also, many don’t have the support needed to be leave work before their shift is over to have dinner together every day, or babysitters to spend one on one time with your kids, or family or partners to give them a break. The author does tries to acknowledge these things but more realistic advice could be given to address these things.

[elsa · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a parent of three preschoolers who struggles to survive each day just trying to keep the kids safe, fed, and entertained, this book was a reminder to slow down and enjoy every moment with them. It's so easy to put them in front of a screen in order to make dinner, clean the house, or even go to the bathroom by myself. We forget that kids grow up at a blink of an eye and before we know it, they are out of the house on their own leaving us as lonely empty nesters. I love that this book provided busy parents with practical and fun activities that can be done everyday and any circumstance. Kids don't have to be sent to play by themselves in order for us to get things done. We just have to find creative ways to include them in our everyday tasks. This not only gives us precious time with our kids but it also makes them feel like they have a purpose in the family. I really enjoyed this book and highly recommend it to any parent.

[Jenny B (RhinoAGoodBook) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a book full of good, practical advice on making the most out of time spent with your kids. Did I have a moment of sadness (and maybe panic) when the author mentioned exactly how many weekends you have with your child before they are grown and off to college? Perhaps. But it inspired me even more to make memories and enjoy each of them. There are probably other books that focus on a similar theme, but this was written in an easy to read and friendly manner with some humor interspersed with advice. I liked Rotbart's suggestion on including kids in your day-to-day activities, especially since that means I can spend nap time not catching up feverishly on housework. He also includes a section on dealing with grandparents that was helpful. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me smile :) I appreciated that it is written by a pediatrician which indicates that he sees what parents stress over at each phase and can appreciate so clearly how quickly those years go by. He is also a grandfather. It’s obviously that he’s a stellar one. It was a fun, easy listen and each chapter is so short that it was perfect to listen to while attending to the busy needs of a household and work. I really felt the writing and format was perfectly designed with busy parents in mind. I found myself spending more quality time almost instantly with my kids. I really loved the chapter on grand parenting - a phase so far ahead of me that I’d never taken thought of at all, but also a chapter that made me understand and appreciate my parents even more than I do. This was a sweet, special, bite sized, nonjudgmental, easy read. And maybe I’ll read it again someday!

[Brianna · Rating 3 out of 5]

“It’s only through truly noticing your children that you’ll truly know them.”

I enjoyed this book, because even though it wasn’t necessarily any new parenting information for me, it was a great reminder. I definitely relate to feeling like my kids lives are flying by, and I appreciated the strategies outlined here to have “no regrets.”

I agreed with the beginning of this book and it’s sentiments that it isn’t necessarily a book you’d sit down and read start to finish, but rather check out certain parts and chapters here and there. I listened to this on audio but would recommend a hard copy. I think it’s a good reference book to have on hand but it’s not easy to quickly reference the audio.

[Nicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a good listen. The narrator was clear and intoned well.

The book was interesting and gave some practical advice for engaging with your kids and grandkids. Most of the time rationale was offered for why doing (or not doing) something is beneficial.

Many of the suggestions seemed obvious to me. As a homeschool mama I have always tried to be intentional with my interactions with my kids.

I actually found parts 2 and 3, about parenting adult kids and grandparenting, to be the most interesting and beneficial (for better understanding my relationship to my parents).

[Tanya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this book. Being a parent it's not easy, trying to be a good parent it's even more overwhelming as you try to get your hands on different tools that will help you succeed.how many times are parents even reading books hoping to find there a Holly grail of parenting wisdom. What I liked about this book is simplicity, simple truts that are unfolded in short chapters, little ideas,common practices sprinkled with bits of humour, personal exemples. It's straightforward, and easy to digest and gives you lots of homework in relation to your children,parents and even grand parents

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have heard “they grow so fast” with a regretful sigh so many times. The title of the book got my attention right away. I like that I can pick and choose the suggestions for being more present and that it is actually encouraged to be selective because every family and situation is different. The book taught me that the key to parenting with no regrets is to find balance between staying present and not doing too much.

[Alissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have the first book on audio and really enjoyed it so I was excited to read this one. I learned even more this time around with different tips and tricks through out the book. I was highlighting so many sections that I will be buying this one in paperback too so I can just grab and find what the parts I need to look back at. I enjoy parenting books but the ones that I can actually relate to and learn from are the keepers!

[Alyssa Hough · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great reminder into parenthood and how your children are humans too. In the age of always trying to catch up, this book had great tips on slowing down and how to have intentional time with your kids. It covered all stages of childhood along with parenting and grandparents. Would recommend