unconditional parenting

I haven't stayed up late with a page-turner in a long time, and I never in a million years thought that a parenting book would qualify. But, surprise, surprise! -Alfie Kohn's Unconditional Parenting is just that. It is a really wonderful & revolutionary book.

Unfortunately, I don't have the time nor energy to render a complete review at the moment -but I found this review sums it up rather nicely:
http://scottneigh.blogspot.com/2006/07/review-unconditional-parenting.html

The move away from a power-over relationship between parent and child and towards one that is more cooperative is inherently in line with my general value system. Kohn's model encourages a mindfulness that I appreciate & aspire towards in other aspects of my life -I love that I can apply that to parenting as well. Reading this book, I am encouraged to think of my child as a whole human being and less as an annoying little person sapping up my free time & irritating me.

Of course, upon reading it I immediately recommended it to several of my dearest mom-friends -especially those with whom I feel I share other parenting values. I was unprepared for the weird push-back that I got from several friends. I felt a strange defensiveness from a number of folks, as though by recommending the book I was passing judgment on the current choices they are making. This couldn't be further from the truth. I recommended the book because I thought it was amazingly & mind-blowingly fresh & new and I wanted them to experience that same sense of "aha!" that I had when reading it. I hoped that they could take from it the sense of encouragement and hope that I had.