Don't Drown in the Car Pool!
 Mark Berkowitz, Psy.D.
 (Reviewed by The Editor - Rebecca Brown)
 2001 Indelible Press
  ISBN: 0967408318
Amazon's price is: $12.95

Creative ways to raise great kids. It's never too late to be great parents!

With the able guidance of Editor Verna Noel Jones, Dr. “B” has compiled, from his more than a score of years of being a father, helping children & families as a licensed clinical psychologist, a professional speaker & a radio personality, a light-hearted yet profoundly serious look at how to bring more humor, respect & compatibility into bringing up kids.

I do like a man who has a way with words, & Mark Berkowitz not only has a lively way of thinking, he has a delightfully logical way of looking at the chaos we call child-rearing.

In Section I, Dr. “B” grabs you with his Creativity & Humor: It's Never Too Late; It Makes Sense; Where Do I Begin?; Spending Energy Wisely; The Moment of “Ha-Ha.” I was chuckling with recognition of the very same bogs into which my family stumbled. I'm glad to see that many of the ways I got us out of those self-fulfilling, self-perpetuating miseries, parallel Dr. “B”'s ideas.

As Dr. B says right on Page 1: “Healthy parent-child relationships don't just happen, they are created.Like any worthwhile endeavor, raising responsible & responsive children requires dedication, hard work & a willingness to experiment with creative approaches to parenting challenges.” -- Amen to that!

Chapter 2 seems like an oxymoron -- The Freedom To Parent. Give some thought about Developing your Personal Parenting Style, or Preparing to be Annoyed, or The Bill of Rights -- and Wrongs! Consider the differences between Rights vs. Privileges. Scary, interesting stuff!

“This book helps parents to explore new horizons by adding the elements of surprise, mystery & humor to their parenting repertoire.” Page 2 -- imagine what would happen if you didn't explode into fury when one of your youngsters messed-up! Well, Don't Drown in the Car Pool! is chockablock with alternative ways to re-train your reactions into surprising responses, to keep your kids mystified & your family's quota of humor on the high end of the scale. Few mishaps that occur in your family require a chorus from a Greek tragedy, most can be transformed into slapstick routines! Take back the remote controls of your children's lives & be the Commander of your family's ship, with an engaged, interested crew.

Chapter 3 declares that Patience Is A Virtue -- Where Can I Get Some? What a groaner! Still, I sure could have used this chapter when my chickadees were in the nest!

Section II tells us all about The Five Ts of Parenting, which are, (drumroll please!) Timing; Tact; Tone; Tolerance & Trust.

Instead of simply bossing your kids about, throwing as many orders at them as they throw tantrums at you, try a little cooperation. Try "including your child in the decision-making process [it] can facilitate cooperation." It will also give your kidipoos an idea of your family as a unified whole, rather than mere satellites swirling about them.

Mark Berkowitz hosts a nationally syndicated radio feature called It's A Parent To Me With Dr. “B”, which I can't receive out here in the valleys of the Northwest. If the humor & insights are apparent on the radio waves, as they are in his Don't Down in the Car Pool!, then you're in for a treat, as well as some practical tools with which to paddle your parentship!

Don't Drown in the Car Pool! is worth every penny you spend. I highly recommend you give copies to every parent you know who is underwhelmed by the joy of parenting, overwhelmed by their ratpack, or looking forward, with either dread or exhilaration, to becoming parents.

Dr. “B” also has a website: www.drbkids.com
(10/06/02)

Rebecca