Book Review: The Unlikely Art of Parental Pressure

I have no idea how I'm going to get through this upcoming week, I feel like THIS IS IT and all of my Christmas prep needs to be done by Sunday night. You know, NO PRESSURE or anything.  

The Unlikely Art of Parental Pressure 

Dr. Chris Thurber

Parents instinctively push their kids to succeed. Yet well-meaning parents can put soul-crushing pressure on kids, leading to under-performance and serious mental health problems instead of social, emotional, and academic success. So where are they going astray?  According to Drs. Chris Thurber and Hendrie Weisinger, it all comes down to asking the right question. Instead of “How much pressure?”, you should be thinking “How do I apply pressure?”

 

The Unlikely Art of Parental Pressure addresses the biggest parenting dilemma of all time: how to push kids to succeed and find happiness in a challenging world without pushing them too far. The solution lies in Thurber and Weisinger’s eight methods for transforming harmful pressure to healthy pressure.

 

Each transformation is enlivened by case studies, grounded in research, and fueled by practical strategies that you can start using right away.  By upending conventional wisdom, Thurber and Weisinger provide you with the revolutionary guide you need to nurture motivation, improve your interactions with your child, build deep connections, sidestep cultural pitfalls, and, ultimately, help your kids become their best selves.

As a mom to four kids, ranging in ages 5 to 16, I struggle so much on how to parent, how to put good pressure on them, but not too much pressure, but also push them to do better, try harder, etc. It's really a lot harder than anyone can imagine and unless you're knee deep in it, you can't possibly know how hard it is. 

I have gone through this book twice already, and to be honest I think I need to read it a third time. Each time I've read it I've gained a new piece that I missed. I really liked that some chapters had the parent's point of view and also the child's, which I think is so key. One thing that really stands out is being able to look at different situations/problems from different perspectives. We can't ever know which one fits the bill of our child that day, with that problem, but kind of being prepared for anything is huge. Some of the scenarios are based on real experiences and some felt a little unrealistic, but others actually ARE realistic because parenting teenagers is WILD. I also really appreciate that the book can also be looked at from an educator's eye and there is a joint epilogue for parents and educators that I felt was really relevant. 

Overall, I really liked this one. I think no matter where you are in the world of parenting, there will be something you can take away from it. Thank you to TLC Book Tours and Dr. Chris Thurber for having me on this tour and sending me a copy for review. 

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