The Work Parent Switch

You can still work and be a great parent! Most modern parents work. And we have limited time, limited energy, limited patience and too much to do. We are seldom at our best at the end of a long working day when the parenting shift kicks in. We want to do the right thing but, in the thick of it, with no time to think and no energy to spare, it’s easy to miss the small changes that could make a big difference to our child’s (and our own) well-being. The Work/Parent Switch is essential reading for every working parent. Written by an expert in child development and psychology who has worked with thousands of stressed out working parents, it will walk you through an approach to parenting that will transform family life and can be fitted into modern working patterns. Covering all the key challenges such getting everyone out of the house on time in the morning, managing difficult behaviour when you’re tired at the end of the day, controlling tech time and avoiding Sunday night homework battles, The Parent/Work Switch will help you to stop feeling guilty about being at work and give you the tools to create the family life you want to come home to.

The Working Parent’s Survival Guide shows you how to be a great parent by parenting smarter not harder and by understanding what children really need from us. Offering strategies for focusing on what really matters, connecting with our kids, and meeting everyone’s needs, Anita Cleare guides working parents to building a happier family.

Originally published: San Francisco, Calif.: Chronicle Books, 2006.

There is nothing to be found in the pages of A Series of Unfortunate Events but misery and despair. You still have time to choose another international best-seller to read. But if you must know what unpleasantries befall the charming and clever Baudelaire children read on . . . In The Bad Beginning the three youngsters encounter a greedy and repulsive villain, itchy clothing, a disastrous fire, a plot to steal their fortune and cold porridge for breakfast. Then again, why trouble yourself with the unfortunate resolutions? With 5 million copies sold in the UK alone, one might consider Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events to make him one of the most successful children’s authors of the past decade. We, however, consider these miserable so-called adventure stories and the Hollywood film starring Jim Carrey that accompanied the books for children as nothing more than a dreadful mistake.

This game-changing book reveals the extraordinary results of focusing on our children's strengths rather than always trying to correct their weaknesses. By showing us how to throw the 'strength switch', Dr Lea Waters demonstrates how we can help our children build resilience, optimism and achievement. As a strength-based scientist for more than 20 years, Waters has seen how this approach enhances self-esteem and energy in both children and teenagers - and how parents find it an exciting and rewarding way to raise them. With many suggestions for specific techniques to interact with your children, Waters demonstrates how to discover their strengths and talents, use positive emotions as a resource, build strong brains, and even how to deal with problem behaviour and talk about difficult situations and emotions. The Strength Switch will show parents that a small shift can yield enormous results.

Legendary leadership and elite performance expert Robin Sharma introduced The 5am Club concept over twenty years ago, based on a revolutionary morning routine that has helped his clients maximize their productivity, activate their best health and bulletproof their serenity in this age of overwhelming complexity. Now, in this life-changing book, handcrafted by the author over a rigorous four-year period, you will discover the early-rising habit that has helped so many accomplish epic results while upgrading their happiness, helpfulness and feelings of aliveness. Through an enchanting—and often amusing—story about two struggling strangers who meet an eccentric tycoon who becomes their secret mentor, The 5am Club will walk you through: How great geniuses, business titans and the world’s wisest people start their mornings to produce astonishing achievements A little-known formula you can use instantly to wake up early feeling inspired, focused and flooded with a fiery drive to get the most out of each day A step-by-step method to protect the quietest hours of daybreak so you have time for exercise, self-renewal and personal growth A neuroscience-based practice proven to help make it easy to rise while most people are sleeping, giving you precious time for yourself to think, express your creativity and begin the day peacefully instead of being rushed “Insider-only” tactics to defend your gifts, talents and dreams against digital distraction and trivial diversions so you enjoy fortune, influence and a magnificent impact on the world Part manifesto for mastery, part playbook for genius-grade productivity and part companion for a life lived beautifully, The 5am Club is a work that will transform your life. Forever.

Is it really harder than ever before to juggle family, work and the rest of life, or does it just feel like it? How can you raise kids well if you are a busy working parent? And how can you actually enjoy your kids when the week seems to go by in a blur? If it comes to that, how can you even stay awake the whole day?! Michael Grose, father of three and parenting expert, understands the pressures intimately. More importantly, he has answers to the questions that plague working parents everywhere. From the decision to work, through finding the right childcare, to dealing with guilt and the negative comments of those around you, to coping when your child is ill, and working from home, Michael covers the whole complicated world you are facing. There are invaluable tips and tricks to managing your time, looking after yourself and dealing with the demands of the workplace (including those ones that have a habit of leaching through into your own time) and of home. He also shatters the myth of 'quality time' and shows, instead, why the three things that really matter for family closeness are 'hang-around time', focused time and rituals. WORKING PARENTS is more than a manual for survival, it's the help you need to take the pressure off and start enjoying your family, your job and the rest of your life again.

"Turning the hearts of the fathers to the children"--Cover.