Raising Your Spirited Child: a guide for parents whose child is more intense, sensitive, perceptive, persistent, energetic by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka

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Stars: *****

This book was read for the 888 Challenge.
Does your child take an hour or more to get dressed because most of her clothes don’t feel right against her skin and she complains about the seams in her socks?
Is he constantly on the move and if ‘made’ to stay still, constantly squirming in his chair and acting up?
Does a walk around the block take over an hour because she keeps stopping to investigate the smallest thing? Like the ants on the ground or a loose balloon floating up so high you can barely see it?
Are his feelings hurt really easily? Is he overly dramatic and does his emotions change quickly? Does she lock into her point of view and refuse to waver?
Perhaps his first reaction to every question or suggestion is no. Maybe she is very serious or has irregular eating and sleeping habits.

If any of these describe one or more of your children, than this in THE book for you.

“Raising Your Spirited Child will help you: understand your child’s — and your own – temperamental traits, plan for success with a simple four-step program, discover the power of positive – rather than negative – labels, cope with tantrums and blowups when the do occur and develop strategies for handling mealtimes, bedtimes, holidays, school and many other situations.”

I cannot load enough praise into this review. I am going to be getting myself a copy (this one was from the library) and also a copy of the companion workbook which I’ve yet to see but imagine it to be just as incredibly helpful. Even if your child isn’t spirited, there are some very helpful suggestions in this book. Mary Sheedy Kurcinka certainly knows what she is talking about. Through reading this book, I’ve discovered one of my children is probably spirited (is still hard to tell at one) and the other is spunky (just under spirited.) I also recognized quite a few characteristics in myself.

Apparently I have a negative first reaction. My answer is almost always no to a question asked of me if I don’t take the time to think before I answer. My daughter would ask to play with play dough and I’d say no, then after she cried think, why didn’t I say yes? Why couldn’t she have played with it? There was absolutely no good reason to say no.

The section on introverts and extroverts was by far the best. I’ve tried to do that personality test where your type is explained in four letters. I’m an INFJ. I wasn’t sure if I was an I or E for the first letter (introvert or extrovert) because I always identified with about an equal amount of traits for both descriptions. Mary’s descriptions are 100% more helpful and there is descriptions to help you figure out what your child is too. Not only that but it give help for if you and your child are different. For example I’m an introvert and one of my children is an extrovert. It’s easier to understand where your child is coming from when your personalities and temperaments match. These hints and ideas aren’t limited to just the Introvert/Extrovert chapter either.

If you consider your child “Difficult”, think he/she is just trying to get to you, are feeling extremely frustrated with your child’s behaviour or know a child who fits under the questions at the beginning of this review, you NEED to read this book. I GUARANTEE this will be one of my top 10 books for 2008 and won’t be surprised if I pick it as the top 1.