Book Preface

BEFORE YOU READ THIS BOOK

A Question

A cereal bowl gets thrown across the kitchen, splattering milk and Cheerios all over the wall.

The dog runs in from the backyard and has inexplicably been painted blue.

One of your kids threatens a younger sibling.

You get a call from the principal’s office for the third time this month.

What do you do?

Before you answer, we want to ask you to completely forget about everything you know about discipline. Forget what you think the word means, and forget what you’ve heard about how parents should respond when kids do something they’re not supposed to.

Instead, ask yourself a question: Are you open to at least thinking about a different approach to discipline? One that helps you achieve your immediate goals of getting your kids to do the right thing in the moment, as well as your longer-range goals of helping them become good people who are happy, successful, kind, responsible, and even self-disciplined?

If so, this book is for you.