Cleaning House

I chose it to read because I'm on a 12-months of "xyz"-kick right now ... but as a mother of young children, I bump up against this entitlement stuph on a regular basis. I found myself shouting YES!! to her philosophy and statements (after admitting to the error of her ways prior to the project) and cheering her and her family on throughout the book. I feel so strongly about the points and quality of this book that I am purchasing it for every member (40!) of my Mothers of PreSchoolers group this year!

when she recounts a friend's son putting in a sprinkler system himself (including research and purchasing), and when she had one (clueless) kid pump gas ...

there are 12 categories - I think my favorite 'scenes' are when she explains the different ways her different-personaly-ed crew handled the challenges.

give kids the tools, and step back. self-esteem is created when you give them the opportunities to succeed (and sometimes fail), not when you pave the way, fix the results, or prevent failure/experience altogether!

I would recommend this book to families with children at home. It is thought provoking and is a good guide on how to restructure chores. I would caution my friends though that this author has a much less protective approach to child safety than I do. I did not agree that letting children take off alone on bicycles or other community outings is part of building self-sufficient children. Letting toddlers access dangerous playground equipment and letting them learn the hard way if they get hurt seems irresponsible. Children are vulnerable and there are a lot of bad people and dangers out there. At times, I felt that the author was weary of parenting 5 children and was largely motivated by her own need to have the children self-sufficient at an early age. I did not implement this type of program yet, raised three very well adjusted self-sufficient children. The author doesn't factor in maturity as a real physiological process and part of brain functions with aging. She does seem to be rushing her children and it seems they were pretty stressed. I know moms with 5 plus children and it does seem that these moms are much more ready to have their children self-sufficient earlier out of necessity.

Yes, as above. The book has lots of good ideas. She also quotes scripture and seems to be striving to be a Godly mother.

No one scene stands out. The book is full of scenes about how the authors children responded to her new mandates.

My children are raised, but I can implements some of the ideas with future grand-children. It is a nice concept.

The narrator is superb!