Marti Eicholz

"Every day as you guide and nourish, you have new chances to get things right, to sow seeds of love, acceptance, appreciation, encouragement and confidence."

Although the parent-child relationship is perhaps the most obvious example of care giving, opportunities for this type of support and guidance abound in everyday life. By taking time to reflect and consider our own childhoods, we may become better equipped to understand and relate to others–especially children–as they navigate their own unique challenges.

This learning experience explores techniques and guidance for doing just this. The first chapter outlines four parenting styles–both the strengths and weaknesses inherent to each–and considers how these natural tendencies can be leveraged and expanded to create an optimal child-rearing environment. By better understanding our own behaviors, we can achieve improved balance in our relationships with others.

Next, through a comprehensive list of children's common grievances, the author presents tactics that parents may use to identify sources of conflict, close these gaps and better relate to their children and their unique issues or needs. These skills are essential in parent-child relationships, but they may also be extended outward to create stronger interpersonal relationships more generally. 

Working through our own childhood struggles can help us relate to others with more impact and grace. To this end, a guided meditation leads us through a series of reflections in which the reader is invited to revisit his or her own childhood and to confront any difficulties encountered there. By learning to evoke to our inner child, we may become better equipped to relate to all children. The meditation also makes us more aware of how our caregivers influenced us, and how we in turn might influence others.

Finally, we consider the components of a happy family–both what it means, and what it takes to achieve. The final chapter provides suggestions and clear guidelines for fostering a healthy family life, referring back to the personality types outlined earlier in the manuscript in order to create a cohesive scope and approach. Ultimately, the author contends, we all have a responsibility for each other, and learning how to skillfully navigate this challenge can result in a brighter, deeper and more fulfilling life for everyone.

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