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  • How to Be a Happier Parent

  • Raising a Family, Having a Life, and Loving (Almost) Every Minute
  • Written by: KJ Dell'Antonia
  • Narrated by: KJ Dell'Antonia
  • Length: 8 hrs and 36 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (27 ratings)

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How to Be a Happier Parent

Written by: KJ Dell'Antonia
Narrated by: KJ Dell'Antonia
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Publisher's Summary

An encouraging guide to helping parents find more happiness in their day-to-day family life, from the former lead editor of the New York Times' Motherlode blog.

In all the writing and reporting KJ Dell'Antonia has done on families over the years, one topic keeps coming up again and again: parents crave a greater sense of happiness in their daily lives. In this optimistic, solution-packed book, KJ asks: How can we change our family life so that it is full of the joy we'd always hoped for?

Drawing from the latest research and interviews with families, KJ discovers that it's possible to do more by doing less, and make our family life a refuge and pleasure, rather than another stress point in a hectic day. She focuses on nine common problem spots that cause parents the most grief, explores why they are hard, and offers small, doable, sometimes surprising steps you can take to make them better.

Whether it's getting everyone out the door on time in the morning or making sure chores and homework get done without another battle, How to Be a Happier Parent shows that having a family isn't just about raising great kids and churning them out at destination: success. It's about experiencing joy - real joy, the kind you look back on, look forward to, and live for - along the way.

©2018 KJ Dell'Antonia (P)2018 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

"KJ Dell'Antonia has been at the center of the conversation about modern parenting for over a decade. During that time, she's become an astute, experienced, sympathetic, and knowledgeable companion and provocateur. Also, a great writer. All of those qualities are on display here. How to Be a Happier Parent is sure to help many harried moms and dads find more joy in the everyday chaos of their lives." (Bruce Feiler, author of the New York Times best seller The Secrets of Happy Families)

“Finally! A parenting book not about fine-tuning your child for some distant (and questionable) marker of success, but a book that focuses on the real task of parenting - creating a safe, warm, loving, and yes, happy family.” (Madeline Levine, PhD, author of the New York Times best sellers The Price of Privilege and Teach Your Children Well)

“An ideal blend of humble confessions, blunt reckonings, and relatable humor, offered with zero judgment and plenty of empathy. As this wise expert comes to feel like a close friend, we trust that we, too, can be far happier than we’d realized.” (Julie Lythcott-Haims, author of the New York Times best seller How to Raise an Adult)

What listeners say about How to Be a Happier Parent

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Lots of good tidbits.

Really enjoyed a lot of the tips on sibling stuff, screen time and activities. Didn’t much like some of the food talk as I thought it was dated a little, but I guess we just different with food stuff. Will definitely go back to a few of the chapters I really enjoyed to review.

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A parent's handy guide

This is a very useful guide for a parent to raise children well and at the same time enjoy the process of doing so. #Audible1

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Helpful

Thank you!! Might need to listen a second time but I learned some valuable information I hope wi help me parent better.

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Full of humour and encouragement

Wonderful, well-researched and diverse advice on reducing stress and finding joy in raising independent human beings. I especially loved the chapter on discipline, as she summarizes a gentle loving yet authoritative approach so succinctly. She gave me permission to be myself and imperfect! Best of all, she often had me giggling!

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