Act like a Kid, Think like a Parent by Katherine Shears and C. S. Whitehurst

Do you struggle to stay on good terms with your parents? Do you get into trouble even when you have done exactly what has been asked of you? Guess what? It is not that you did what was asked of you but how you did it. Do you often think your parents do not like you? Would you like a few days of being genuinely cordial with your parents? How nice would life be if you never got the old, “I’ll think about it”? That almost always leads to a ‘no’, right? Would you like to learn how to talk, hear and listen to your parents without ending up in a shouting match that just ruins everyone’s mood?

Katherine Shears and C. S. Whitehurst give insight into the expectations from both sides of the aisle. This book teaches children how to communicate their own expectations. They also learn the why of their parents’ actions and words. This book teaches them to be proper children now so that they can be proper parents and adults in the future. From this book, they will also learn how to talk to their parents in a way that gets them exactly what they want every time, without all the whining and manipulation. 

Parenting is a daunting task. No book can possibly prepare anyone for parenting. There are surprises every day. Books will always give insight into what parenting might be like but they are very general guidelines and not in any way specific to a child. For the most part, parenting is just trial and error until something works. Only one thing is common in parenting, the visceral need to protect. Parents will protect their children from harm by all means. Sometimes they will be protecting the child from themselves. At this point, the children will often clash with their parent. The parents become, ‘no fun at all’ or ‘ruiner of life’. ‘Act like a Kid, Think like a Parent’ opens a portal to what parents really think of their children. With this book, children will no longer look at their parents as enemies but as caring and loving humans with their best interests at heart. 

Act like a Kid, Think like a Parent has been written for the 10 and up crowd. It is at this stage that parent-child relationships start getting strained. The tone of the book is friendly and conversational. The book is written in simple language, which is appealing o the target audience. It is a well-written account of parental expectations in an authoritative but still friendly voice.

The attention span of a ten-year-old child is very short. They might drop this book before getting to the most important parts. The book could do well with more breaks in the middle and maybe giving real world stories to illustrate the points. The tone of writing also gets a little condescending in some parts. However, these do not take away from the important subject of this book. It is an important tool for cohesive parent-child relationships.