Love and Logic - What Am I Missing?

Updated on July 30, 2011
A.B. asks from Pittsburgh, PA
9 answers

*This is about the book, not whether I'm missing love and logic in my own life, although I'm sure anyone could use a bit more - ha!

I have seen this book mentioned by several moms on here and recently bought it for my Kindle. I started it last night and was very mystified by the intro - it wasn't very coherent. I chalked it up to being tired and went to bed.

I continued reading today and, although I'm only on the first chapter, I have to say it's probably the most poorly written book I have ever read! It's like the author didn't even have an editor! I'm shocked by it - so far, it is little more than disjunct observations and sentence fragments. I feel like I'm trying to listen to someone who is rambling and unfocused.

Now, I'm wanting to give the author the benefit of the of the doubt here. I noticed that the formatting seems strange. There are several spaces between paragraphs, which lead the reader to believe that he's starting a whole new thought, which definitely isn't the case in several places. I'm wondering if this is a glitch resulting from trying to format the book for an e-reader.

So my questions are:

1. Does this book get better? Should I bother to keep reading?

2. Is the actual hardcopy book formatted similarly - wide gaps between paragraphs, single-sentence paragraphs, etc?

3. Did anyone else honestly not care for it?

1 mom found this helpful

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So What Happened?

Boooo....I should have checked this out from the library before buying it.

Thank you for your feedback. From what I'm gathering from you, it seems similar to Kevin Lehman's stuff - and I really like him. The natural consequence idea makes a lot of sense to me and I think it prepares children well for the "real world" and rational decision-making. I'm a little intrigued at those of you who considered it cruel -so feel free to elaborate! - but not enough to continue reading.

If something isn't written or communicated well, I don't get the impression I'm hearing from an expert or someone who is any smarter than I am, so it's a bit of a turn-off. It was extremely distracting.

Thanks again for taking the time to give me the low-down!

Featured Answers

B.F.

answers from Toledo on

I have this book and read it, I was confused as it seemed to be unfocused to me as well. however I did attend a free seminar at a local Y and it made much more sense to me, but im a visual person ;-)

However I do use the method and it does work.

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D.K.

answers from Pittsburgh on

I found it horrifying and never looked beyond the first few pages. I would NEVER treat a child the way the author advises.

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A.H.

answers from Omaha on

The authors do tend to lay out the information in story form, vignettes and bullets, but I sort of like material presented in that manner. They usually give a nice recap at the end of each chapter for quick review which I like. I have the paperback version btw. I do highly recommend attending a workshop especially if you find the book disjointed and ineffective because the strategies are really sound and do work. You might also go to a book store and look through a copy of the book just to make sure it isn't an ereader glitch. Good luck!
A.

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M..

answers from Youngstown on

I agree that is was unfocused, poorly written, and I found many of the author's scenerios laughable. I also thought the punishment was cruel.

I would stop reading now if I were you. I read the book cover to cover, had a good laugh and loaned it to a girlfriend of mine. She read it too, then we laughed together. This method might work for some families (and more power to them), but it didn't work for mine. Honestly, I tried some of the methods and they worked for about 4 hours. After that it was a joke.

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B.C.

answers from Joplin on

I only have the love and logic teen edition and found it mostly laughable...but that is not to say it would not work for some families...just not my teenager...

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C.R.

answers from Kansas City on

Love & Logic did not work for our family, but it could work for you. We went to one of the seminars which was good, but it was just not work for us. I believe that it depends on the parents AND the child. Heads up, this method seems very cruel which is probably the reason it did not work out. Good Luck

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3.B.

answers from Cleveland on

We have the "Birth to six years" edition, and while at times it may be a little confusing I have found this book to be a lifesaver if you can stay on course. Everyone's interpretation is different though. I for one thought "The happiest toddler on the block" was the dumbest book ever!

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J.K.

answers from Sacramento on

I've read lots and lots of parenting books, and to be honest I take them all with a grain of salt. There are many things in Love and Logic that I strongly disagree with, and other things that were helpful and I used, and they worked. The style of writing is a little weird but there are some tidbits in there if you want to continue reading. If not... there's lots of other (more) helpful books out there.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

I love the love and logic methods. It makes life very easy when you give the kids choices. Do you want to sit in the seat of the cart or the big part of the cart. Sitting in the cart is not negotiable but he can pick which part....

I love the videos. Some of the presentators are a bit odd but it still makes sense and you can use what pertains to your situation. Kids need to understand that actions have consequences.

How many times do you say the same thing over and over and over...if you don't wear shoes outside your feet will get wet and cold from the snow. It takes one time for them to be plopped down on the snow barefoot to get the understanding of what that means. Then they keep their shoes on. It did not hurt them, it did not scar them, it taught them a valuable lesson. Their actions have consequences.

I only had to go to soccer practice one time without my granddaughter. I told her it wasn't fun to be around her when she acted like a diva and that I enjoyed soccer. She stayed at home and I went to her game. They won and went out for treats afterwards. She always got ready on time and had on clean shorts. She put her jersey in the hamper along with her socks every time after that.

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