Parenting Through Crisis: Helping Kids in Times of Loss, Grief, and Change

Sooner or later, all families are faced with an emergency or two; some families, in fact, are created through crisis. Death, illness, divorce, adoption: these are biggies, and Barbara Coloroso's (Kids Are Worth It!) book Parenting Through Crisis manages to turn these mountains into smaller slopes, if not the proverbial molehills we hope for.

The chapters of this book are arranged by type of crisis--quite helpful if you're looking for information on dealing with adoption and don't feel up to reading how to handle the death of a sibling. Inside each chapter, you'll find specific stages that children of different ages may go through in processing their difficulties, along with helpful parenting techniques, ways of creating a positive dialogue with all family members, and the occasional suggestion for particular legal issues. Pages are sprinkled heavily with appropriate quotes from many sources, and many parents may find a bit of memorization helpful in keeping their tempers. One chapter contains advice from Henry Ford that seems equally appropriate for assembly line or family drama: "Do not find fault, find a remedy." Coloroso encourages open communication at every opportunity, and her expertise in nonviolent conflict resolution shows itself with her suggestions of effective discipline and problem solving that leave blame and punishment in the dust. New language choices are a part of her techniques, and words like "co-parenting" and "primary responsibility" are emphasized instead of old school phrases like "joint" or "sole" custody. Parents in difficult situations should find a few quiet hours to spend with this book--it's not one to be quickly absorbed, but one to be used with planning and patience. --Jill Lightner