Parenting As Partners

Men and women not only have naturally different communication styles, but unique approaches to parenting as well. While mothers tend to overprotect their kids, fathers tend to push them toward independence. And whereas many experts tend to advocate ''a united front,'' Drs. Kyle and Marsha Pruett reveal how Mom and Dad not always being on exactly the same page - which, initially, may seem to cause conflict - can actually strengthen the whole family. Informed by the Pruetts' research and extensive experience with parents and children, Partnership Parenting offers a new outlook. In addition to fascinating biological insights, the book features strategies for negotiating common ''landmine situations'' from birth to age eight, from discipline and bedtime to helping kids with homework and teaching them responsibility. With wisdom and humor, Partnership Parenting helps couples take advantage of their individual strengths to raise confident children while simultaneously improving their marriage.

Very few families are perfect. But looking from the outside in, through conversations in the grocery store or clicking through social media, oftentimes it seems we are the only ones struggling with raising our kids or aligning with our spouses on parenting. The reality is that so many families struggle. Vicki Hoefle, three-time author, parenting coach, and sought-after speaker, offers a fresh, practical roadmap for achievable family—and marital—harmony and happiness. Her strategies work for everyone: whether you have young children and are just starting the parenting journey; are beginning to experience the first challenges of raising children in the 21st century; or if you’re facing crisis, stress, or the effects of divorce. Hoefle inspires REAL families and shows them how to invest in the relationship, focus on what is important, and experience the joy of living in a healthy, loving family.

Love may be sweeter the second time around, but once the bliss of a newfound relationship wears off a little, the reality of being part of a stepfamily sets in. If you are one of the millions of remarried Americans facing the challenge of blending two existing families into one cohesive whole, you are part of a stepcouple—and you know all too well how hard it can be to make your marriage work in sometimes tough terrain. Different parenting styles, finances, relationships with ex-spouses, legal matters, and even seemingly simple issues such as the kinds of chores assigned to children can chisel away at your union if you don’t always make your marriage a priority. Stepcoupling offers advice for stepcouples on how to do just that—all the while strengthening their blended family with a healthy marriage. Susan Wisdom and Jennifer Green provide tips and strategies on dealing with the issues remarried couples face, with a wealth of advice from real-life stepcouples, such as: * Learning to tailor your expectations of your spouse or children and remembering that no family is perfect * Knowing where your boundaries are, whether involving a hostile ex-spouse or a stepchild who demands too much attention * Realizing that traits like flexibility, tolerance, forgiveness, and openness are especially essential in a stepfamily situation * Making “us” time for talking, problem-solving, weekends away, and enjoying your marriage to constantly renew and strengthen your bond as a couple Let this invaluable remarriage manual help you make your stepcouple the foundation of a strong, happy, and successful stepfamily.

Why do men do so little at home? Why do women do so much? Why don't our egalitarian values match our lived experiences? Journalist-turned-psychologist Darcy Lockman offers a clear-eyed look at the most pernicious problem facing modern parents—how progressive relationships become traditional ones when children are introduced into the household. In an era of seemingly unprecedented feminist activism, enlightenment, and change, data shows that one area of gender inequality stubbornly persists: the disproportionate amount of parental work that falls to women, no matter their background, class, or professional status. All the Rage investigates the cause of this pervasive inequity to answer why, in households where both parents work full-time and agree that tasks should be equally shared, mothers’ household management, mental labor, and childcare contributions still outweigh fathers’. How, in a culture that pays lip service to women’s equality and lauds the benefits of father involvement—benefits that extend far beyond the well-being of the kids themselves—can a commitment to fairness in marriage melt away upon the arrival of children? Counting on male partners who will share the burden, women today have been left with what political scientists call unfulfilled, rising expectations. Historically these unmet expectations lie at the heart of revolutions, insurgencies, and civil unrest. If so many couples are living this way, and so many women are angered or just exhausted by it, why do we remain so stuck? Where is our revolution, our insurgency, our civil unrest? Darcy Lockman drills deep to find answers, exploring how the feminist promise of true domestic partnership almost never, in fact, comes to pass. Starting with her own marriage as a ground zero case study, she moves outward, chronicling the experiences of a diverse cross-section of women raising children with men; visiting new mothers’ groups and pioneering co-parenting specialists; and interviewing experts across academic fields, from gender studies professors and anthropologists to neuroscientists and primatologists. Lockman identifies three tenets that have upheld the cultural gender division of labor and peels back the ways in which both men and women unintentionally perpetuate old norms. If we can all agree that equal pay for equal work should be a given, can the same apply to unpaid work? Can justice finally come home?

Professor, author, researcher and couple and family therapist Saliha Bava, PhD, and her husband, author and illustrator Mark Greene share the core ideas of relational thinking through comics, fables and powerful articles, charting a playful and transformative path to growing our children's relational intelligence."Growing our children's relationship super powers is the joyful cure for what ails our angry, disconnected culture."-Micheal Kasdan, The Good Men Project"Life-changing, culture-shaping ideas ... I was smiling, highlighting, imagining how I could use this to equip teachers and parents with new insights and understandings and SUPER POWERS. The theory masterfully bridges what I know from my work as an early childhood teacher right through to my new field of guidance and counseling."-Bronwyn Leiataua

"Tips for coparents to effectively build a working parenting relationship with each other and their children"--

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1 Why Now? -- 2 Planning for Your Partnership -- PART I Self-Discovery/Discovery -- 3 Childhood Experiences Revisited -- 4 Family Relationships -- 5 Daily Operations -- 6 Lifestyle -- PART II Working Together -- 7 Creating Your Partnership -- 8 Stories from the Trenches -- Index

Having a baby is a joyous experience, but even the best relationships are strained during the transition from duo to trio. Lack of sleep, never-ending housework, and new fiscal concerns often lead to conflict, disappointment, and hurt feelings. In And Baby Makes Three Love Lab™ experts John Gottman and Julie Schwartz Gottman teach couples the skills from their successful workshops, so partners can avoid the pitfalls of parenthood by: • maintaining intimacy and romance • replacing a culture of criticism and irritability with one of appreciation • preventing post-partum depression • creating a home environment that nurtures physical, emotional, and mental health, as well as cognitive and behavioral development for your baby Complete with exercises that separate the “master” from the “disaster” couples, And Baby Makes Three helps new parents positively manage the strain that comes along with their bundle of joy.

Combative to Collaborative: The Co-parenting Code channels parents' interactions with each other to what they really want?to be good parents together. But while most co-parenting books tell parents to just put the kids first even if that means sacrificing their own happiness, Combative to Collaborative shows parents how supporting each other as good parenting partners ensures they do what's best for their kids while also achieving personal happiness. Move from anger, hurt, and loss to consideration, kindness, and cooperation.Discover how to:- Diffuse a co-parent's snarky behavior and avoid triggering their hostility- Recognize your own combative behaviors and stop exhibiting them- Plan for co-parenting collaboration and success- Correct course when a relationship goes astray - even after many years of conflict!The book is divided into three stages: Uncoupling, Life Goes On, and Correcting Course. Then each chapter lays out a roadmap for a particular area of co-parenting. Whether parents are newly separated, well into their journey, or have been at it for years, this book will guide the way. For each co-parenting topic covered...- Explore what's at stake for the child, parents, and others involved.- Identify the combative behaviors that derail parenting efforts and make life miserable for everyone.- Read True Stories to see how real parents have handled situations both successfully and not as well. As you read these stories, you'll learn what worked and what didn't and also find out you're not alone.- Learn the DOs and DON'Ts of collaborative behaviors.- Answer questions that will help you adopt an empathetic mindset, apply the Golden Rule to your situation, and achieve the positive outcome you desire.This is The Co-parenting Code!Combative to Collaborative: The Co-parenting Code is the essential guide for parents living separately to not only improve life for their children, but also for themselves and everyone that surrounds them. You can save your family. You can be happy! A painful decision does not have to mean a pain-filled life.