Boundaries with Kids - Review

Boundaries with Kids: How Healthy Choices Grow Healthy Children

By: Dr. Henry Cloud & Dr. John Townsend

Publication: November 1st 2001 by Zondervan

224 pages

Genre: Non-fiction, Self-Help, Parenting, Christian, Psychology

Source: Personal Kindle Library

( Goodreads | Amazon | Book Depository )

*Note: The above links to Amazon and Book Depository are affiliate links. Affiliate links support giveaways for Somewhere Only We Know readers.

Goodreads description--Keys for establishing healthy boundaries--the bedrock of good relationships, maturity, safety, and growth for children and adults.

To help their children grow into healthy adults, parents need to teach them how to take responsibility for their behavior, their values, and their lives. The authors of the Gold Medallion Award-winning book Boundaries bring their biblically-based principles to bear on the challenging task of child rearing, showing parents:
* how to bring control to an out-of-control family life
* how to set limits and still be loving parents
* how to define legitimate boundaries for the family
* how to instill in children a godly character

I read Boundaries 6 or 7 years ago and rated it 5 Stars. It was so good that I think every human being should read it. And that's exactly how I felt about Boundaries with Kids! 5 bazillion stars!!!! And every parent, teacher, grandparent, every person who is around children in an authority position. Really just everyone.

Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend take biblical principals like reaping what we sow, honesty, and love first. As a matter of fact, the doctors' constant push to keep love and empathy first was a huge plus for me. Everything about being a parent, raising your child, and disciplining is about the love we have for our children. I think so many parents have trouble setting boundaries because we love our children, but the way the doctors present the importance of setting boundaries shows just how loving it is to do this for your children.

The doctors often mention that consequences of setting boundaries for children are much less than when our children grow up without having boundaries and they have trouble with marriages or careers when they're adults. When you're looking at the big picture, the long term effects, setting boundaries is essential. And from what I can tell it is largely missing from entire generations and this isn't getting any better. Which makes the need for parents to read this book even more important.

You guys I highlighted 392 times in this 224-page book. I couldn't share my favorite quotes with you guys if I wanted to. But perhaps one of the biggest compliments that I can give this book is that I plan to turn around and re-read this book and potentially re-read it several times over the next eighteen years. I enjoyed reading Boundaries with Kids because I was excited about the changes I could implement in my parenting to improve my relationship with my child (my daughter is 3 and my son is 1 so we're not too much into parenting difficulties with him...but we'll get there). I wanted to return to this book if I needed to put it down. And I couldn't stop talking about it to everyone in my real life--even people who don't have kids or are now grandparents and not currently raising their own kids.

I wish so much that I could give you guys a proper review of this book. I plan to give it as a gift to all of my friends as each of them becomes a parent. I'm going to push Boundaries with Kids on anyone who is willing. This book deserves all the stars I can give it. A hearty, enthusiastic, re-readable 5 Star book! Have you read Boundaries with Kids? What did you think? Let me know!