Why Is My Child in Charge?

A Roadmap to End Power Struggles, Increase Cooperation, and Find Joy in Parenting Young Children

By: Claire Lerner

Narrated by: Randye Kaye

Through stories from her practice, Claire Lerner shows parents how making critical mind-shifts - seeing their children's behaviors through a new lens - empowers parents to solve their most vexing childrearing challenges. This process puts parents back in the driver's seat, where they belong, and where their children need them to be.

Why Is My Child In Charge? picks up where other books have left parents hanging. Most parenting books offer solutions that sound good on paper but don't work in practice. They are aspirational rather than achievable, or they offer one-size-fits-all approaches that don't meet the needs of an individual child. They can compound parents' feelings of frustration and thus can be counterproductive. Case by case, Claire unpacks the individualized process she guides parents through to solve the most common challenges such as throwing tantrums in public; delaying bedtime for hours; refusing to participate in family mealtimes; and resisting potty training. Employing a relatable storytelling approach, Claire elucidates: the faulty mindsets that pose obstacles to parents seeing the situation more objectively; the essential mind-shifts that enable parents to quickly identify the root causes of the problem; and the development of an action plan tailored to each unique child and family.

©2021 Claire Lerner (P)2021 Tantor

Worth the time

I learned so much. Tons of good info with multiple examples. Each chapter was a new topic, so you could potentially skip to your problem area.

straight to the point

filled with real life scenarios you'll relate to accompanied by important mindset shifts, a positive discipline approach

One of the best books out there

I've read many parenting books and if I had to pick one, I'd say this is the best. Why? Because is actually works. Other books contain some useful tips, but also some that are either unrealistic (basically assuming parents are tireless unendingly empathetic people) or tricks to assert control (which sometimes work but can also majorly backfire making the situation worse and you feel like a bad parent). This book is sensible and practical. The narration is indeed a bit robotic, not super bad but could be better. It's still very much worth the listen!

Robotic performance Good content

I agree with other reviewers. The author is brilliant but the delivery is robotic.

Very different, in that is explains how parents need to change their way of thinking

This book was very helpful in that it describes the common mental mistakes that parents do, and how a change in the way the think can bring significant serenity and permanent solutions in their kid's problems

I wish the author had narrated

I downloaded this because I heard the author on a podcast and thought she was great. I just can’t get pass the narration. It sounds computer-generated and I would have much preferred the author narrating. The content is great otherwise.

Great parenting book but horrible narration.

I would read this book if I had a do over. The substance is great, but the narrator sounds like bad robo spam from the '90s. It took away from my enjoyment of the book and made me dread listening. Regarding substance, the book has a lot of similarities to Good Inside by Beck Kennedy. I found this book much more concise. It also provides valuable and practical examples of the guidance.