Raising Happiness: 10 Simple Steps for More Joyful Kids and Happier Parents

By Christine Carter

Book Overview

What do we wish most for our children? Next to being healthy, we want them to be happy, of course Fortunately, a wide array of scientific studies show that happiness is a learned behavior, a muscle we can help our children build and maintain.

Drawing on what psychology, sociology, and neuroscience have proven about confidence, gratefulness, and optimism, and using her own chaotic and often hilarious real-world adventures as a mom to demonstrate do's and don'ts in action, Christine Carter, Ph.D, executive director of UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center, boils the process down to 10 simple happiness-inducing steps.

With great wit, wisdom, and compassion, Carter covers the day-to-day pressure points of parenting--how best to discipline, get kids to school and activities on time, and get dinner on the table--as well as the more elusive issues of helping children build healthy friendships and develop emotional intelligence. In these 10 key steps, she helps you interact confidently and consistently with your kids to foster the skills, habits, and mindsets that will set the stage for positive emotions now and into their adolescence and beyond. Inside you will discover

- the best way avoid raising a brat--changing bad habits into good ones
- tips on how to change your kids' attitude into gratitude
- the trap of trying to be perfect--and how to stay clear of its pitfalls
- the right way to praise kids--and why too much of the wrong kind can be just as bad as not enough
- the spirit of kindness--how to raise kind, compassionate, and loving children
- strategies for inspiring kids to do boring (but necessary) tasks--and become more self-motivated in the process

Complete with a series of "try this" tips, secrets, and strategies, Raising Happiness is a one-of-a-kind resource that will help you instill joy in your kids--and, in the process, become more joyful yourself.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0345515625
• ISBN13: 9780345515629
• Release Date: March 2011
• Publisher: Ballantine Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.50 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 5.6" x 8.2"

Customer Reviews

Not just another book on parenting tips and tricks

To lump this book in with the myriad other books on parenting would be doing both the book and the reader a disservice. Raising Happiness goes beyond 'parenting' - it's truly a book on how to create a happiness lifestyle, and in turn raise happy kids. I enjoy Dr. Carter's anecdotes, but also appreciate that all her happiness advice is rooted in scientific study; both social and medical. This is the book that I will not only reread (and enjoy each time) but will keep on my bedside table and refer to time and time again when I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed and potentially down. Thank you for this book, for your insights, and for the happiness guidance. I have been implementing suggestion after suggestion, and to my delight, my children are flourishing and I'm a happier mom because of it! I will be recommending this to friends, giving this book for baby showers, and sharing the insights with my husband. And reading it again. And then probably again. And perhaps one more time for good luck!

Real, easy, and MEANINGFUL

This book is an excellent source of tips and techniques you can begin to implement TODAY that will change the overall feeling in your house immediately. Christine carter has translated literally hundreds of social science articles into practical steps you can take to help your child grow, learn, and feel happy and fulfilled. Need to get out the door on school mornings? She has a plan. Want your child to be happy with what they have rather than asking you to buy something else? She has strategies. This book helps everyone in the family be more attentive to what we already have, the joy of our relationships, and ways we can help each other. Not just a "parenting" book. It is a family-building book. You will benefit as much as your children.

Not just another self-help parenting book!

Dr. Carter has written an honest, practical, and encouraging book which parents everywhere will not only enjoy reading, but will find valuable lessons for increasing family and personal happiness. "Raising Happiness" is packed with knowledge based on research, yet remains easily readable without being bogged down with scientific terminology and ramblings. Whether you are a parent of a toddler or teenager, a parent-to-be, work with kids, or just want to understand more about how to cultivate happiness, this book is a must-read!

An amazing book

What a fun and informative read! Carter's book is a combination of incredibly useful research and great practical parenting advice. As a writer she has done a fantastic job taking the latest available studies and transforming them into something I can use daily as a parent. It is research I imagine any adult can use in their quest for leading a full and happy life, and I love that it is written by a mom with a great sense of humor and real time experiences; someone who truly understands kids and the trials and joys of parenting! 5 stars for sure.

happier already!

Thanks to Christine Carter for giving us parents an actual step by step approach to engendering happiness in our childrens' and our own lives. I've enjoyed her blog at Half Full for sometime, but this is an excellent synopsis of her work. If you read nothing but Step 3 "Praising Effort and Enjoyment" your childrens' lives will be forever changed.