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Mending the Broken Bond

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Mending the Broken Bond

The 90-Day Answer to Developing a Loving Relationship with Your Child

Viking,

15 min read
10 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Like John Lennon said, “Love is the Answer.” Dr. Frank Lawlis shows you how to forge tender bonds with your children.

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7

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Recommendation

Parental love for a child is one of the strongest emotional bonds. However, love alone does not guarantee a healthy, solid relationship or a happy, confident and well-adjusted child. And isn’t that what you want the most? Dr. Frank Lawlis shows you how to channel your love so that you can be a successful parent. Each chapter focuses on one of the 10 steps Lawlis suggests to build, reshape and strengthen the bonds between you and your child. His steps include learning effective communication, managing behavioral challenges, and developing the ability to cooperate, heal and forgive. The book overflows with helpful quizzes, exercises and real-life examples, adding structure and life to his advice. Although Lawlis crafts his plan to fit a 90-day schedule, getAbstract suggests that parents seeking guidance concentrate on the chapters that address their specific concerns.

Summary

The Love Connection

Almost without exception, parents love their children. Yet resentment, anger, unfulfilled expectations, disappointment and frustration can hinder the exchange of love, and problems may arise. While people have the innate ability to love, it does not necessarily come along with the skills you need to form a loving connection. You can “mend the broken bonds” by working through the emotional challenges that get in their way.

Many parents misunderstand some basic facts about raising children:

  • You don’t need to make children happy. Your role is to help your children handle frustration and disappointment, and learn to solve problems on their own.
  • It’s not always good to let it all out. Teach children to manage feelings of anger.
  • Teenagers need rules and structure to help them manage this challenging stage.
  • A child’s cry serves a purpose. You shouldn’t let a child “cry it out.”
  • Corporal punishment is negative. Use positive reinforcement.
  • Watching television evokes a genuine emotional response from your children.

Step One: Love, Don’t Control

Hannah, an intelligent girl and a...

About the Author

Dr. Frank Lawlis is psychologist, researcher and counselor with more than 35 years of experience working with parents and children. He is the author of the two bestsellers, The ADD Answer and The IQ Answer.

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