Parenting is an age-old topic for never-ending discussion and there are numerous parenting books written ever. The book ‘Monkeying to Parenting’ is a parenting book with a fresh outlook.
The Parenting Book
This parenting book by Parminder Kaur Sharma can be broadly categorized into two sections – direct and indirect issues of parenting.
The uniqueness of this book may also be accredited to the fact that the author is neither a psychologist nor a literature freak. She is a full time working mother and is passionate about sharing her parenting tips with the readers.
Let us now discuss the issues of parenting from the author’s perspective covered in this parenting book.
Direct issues of parenting
- Dealing with issues that children face in academics
Here the author had intricately addressed the issue talking about the gaps in parent tutoring the child and the child learning the topic. She had talked about various learning styles that children follow and the common mistakes parents make along with a list of concise tips and tools.
- Tantrum behavior in children
Again this issue has also been addressed in detail discussing the origin as well as the solution and is also compared with meltdown which is another behavior often confused as a tantrum.
- Bullying among children
This is a serious issue today and the author has beautifully presented the solutions both for the parents of the child being bullied and the bullies. She believes this as the root cause of many other issues like depression, suicides, and violence.
- Hyperactivity
The author believes this term as inappropriate for children and considers it more of an issue for the parent to get the enhanced energy level of the child to be channelized. The crisp ways to do so has been presented very well in this parenting book.
Indirect issues of parenting
The other section deals with indirect issues of maintaining a harmonious relationship with the key members of the family.
- Most important, Yourself
She emphasized the importance of ‘me-time’ and warns the readers against the idea of being a Supermom.
- The mother-in-law
The author feels the need to connect with every family and extended family members, especially your mother-in-law as she believes a good and harmonious relationship with her will yield you as a better parent. Her analogy of this relationship with a jug full of water is truly commendable.
- The husband
The author feels the husband also needs to be given his rightful due on this parenting journey. It emphasizes in providing enough room and respect for every relationship including that of a spouse.
- The teacher
A valid point has been made by giving a separate section to this parent-teacher relationship that most parenting books either skip or portray in a negative sense.
She had emphasized the importance of giving due credit and respect to the teacher and the school especially in the child’s presence.
Why read this parenting book?
The author addresses every issue with a logical approach indicating her clarity of thought and command over the subject. She also emphasized the power of Belief System giving a Spiritual Angle to her theory.
She aptly explains the concept and to reinforce the understanding, appropriate checkpoints have also been placed at various stages of the book, putting more practical and real questions to the readers. The simplicity in her presentation makes it even more appealing.
Another thing that makes this as a must-buy parenting book is that it’s not just another preaching book but it offers clear practical solutions at appropriate stages. The author has not missed answering the ‘How’ part along with describing the ‘What’ part.
To summarize in the end, she had revealed some very good, practical and do-able tips and tools which I am sure all the parents would like to know. One of my favorites is her self-designed tool of Dual Mode Role Playing.
So, if you are looking for an easy manual for your day to day issues as a parent or a parenting help book, if you are struggling amongst your relationships and you find your child being a scapegoat of your frustration, this parenting book is definitely for you.
More about the author
Parminder Kaur Sharma is an Engineer, Banker and had participated in programs related to Child psychology and Developmental psychology. She also engages herself in parenting or children workshop sharing her insights.
She is also a blogger and through some of her posts with wit and a dash of sarcasm, had highlighted the issues of our society like the importance of communication, corporate culture, gender biases, judgemental society, relationships, and parenting etc. Her writing is simple yet bears a strong and relevant message.
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Wish you a very Happy Parenting and reading!