Losing Control and Liking It by Tim Sanford

Parents of tweens and teens--actually, any parent with kids of any age--run to your nearest bookstore and BUY THIS BOOK! It will save you a boatload of grief and stress. I only wish I'd had it years ago.

"Losing Control and Liking It" examines how we as parents attempt to control the behavior of our growing children. Tim talks about how we need to begin to loosen the ties that bind as our children begin to grow and mature into adults if we want them to have productive lives later on.

With wit and wisdom, he discusses how even God, the perfect Father, gave His children all free will. God could have stopped Adam and Eve in the garden, but He didn't. He wanted His children to learn to choose wisely.

How can we not want any less for our own children? And knowing God's kids rebelled against Him helps me not feel quite so bad about my oldest daughter and our relationship!

My favorite chapter is aptly titled "Free Will: You Have the Right to Remain Stupid". It helped me realize that by covering for my teens when they blow it, I'm actually crippling them for their later years in life. When my 14 year old doesn't do his Pre-Calculus homework, I need to let him suffer the consequences and not make excuses for him.

I also loved "The Three Rules of Life". I find I'm having to live by them when it comes to my three at home and one in the world children. It's painful, but oh, it makes my life so much easier in the long run!

I love those rules so much, they're going on my fridge as a reminder to me! I think you may end up doing the same, once you've read Tim's book!

That's my one downfall as a mom--I want my kids' lives to be easy. But easy can equal lazy, and I want my kids to be productive citizens of God's Kingdom, not to slack their way through this life.

The best time to read "Losing Control and Liking It" is NOW--regardless of how old your children are. I cannot recommend this book enough. You may not agree with or like everything you read in these pages, but you MUST consider what Tim teaches us in light of Scripture.

Maybe our society would take a huge turn for the better if this were required reading by every school and every maternity ward! I'm giving "Losing Control and Liking It" the Golden Bookmark for publishing and writing excellence, with a steering wheel as a charm--I'll have TWO teen drivers soon--can you feel my fear??

Happy Reading!