1-2-3 Magic for Christian Parents: Effective Discipline for Children 2-12

I bought this book nearly one year ago and have been practicing 1-2-3 magic with our 2 1/2 year old son ever since. The book is thorough and makes good common sense. My husband complained that the author seemed to be repetitive with some points, but I think multiple illustrations help drive home the ideas discussed. If you are consistent (and CALM), then 1-2-3 is highly effective.

I love this book! It has given me an effective way to discipline my children with out stressing out, with out yelling, and with out losing my cool! I am a mother of 11 and only wish I had found this book sooner. I finally feel like I am in control of my own household.

Okay, I gave this two weeks before I reviewed it just to see if the methods actually worked. They more than work. They have changed my life and my family! I am SO grateful to these authors. I was an abused kid. It has taken years for me to be able to admit this. I wasn't spanked often. I was hit in the face. I was thrown against a wall and grabbed by the throat. This didn't happen lots mind you, it was random. I have happy memories of my dad. And terrible ones. The terror filled moments are rare. I can count them on one hand. But they are vivid. The psychological torment wasn't constant either. But it happened more often than I would like to admit. I rediscovered the teachings of my Catholic faith about 6 years ago, and committed myself to Christ and what I believe to be his Church. (Please don't attack me here... this is just a review of a good book). My father was a liberal who had no faith, who used drugs and wrote bad poetry and didn't work as was bad tempered. My mom's Catholic faith presented many many answers to the questions I was having. The reason I bring this up is that, like most of you may know, the Catholic Church has teachings on contraception that my wife and I took seriously as we became deeply committed Catholic Christians. As we started having children (the logical outgrowth of Catholic marriage) I knew enough to keep a close eye on myself. I read the conservative Catholic books on the topic of discipline because I heard these authors on EWTN. People whom I still love and respect, like Steve Wood and Ray Guarendi, advocated and endorsed spanking for certain misbehaviors, as they contended that both Scripture and Tradition supported that stance. In fact, they seemed to imply, there was something wrong with those who didn't spank. Spanking tore me up inside. I felt like puking. I cried. It brought back horrible memories. I knew enough to know that I had to get help. I got therapy. My therapist was great... but was a conservative Catholic, like me... I wouldn't go to a guy who would look at me like I was crazy because I rejected artificial contraception. I found a good and faithful Catholic therapist. In between marathon session about my anxiety and my childhood (which were SO helpful... really.. I owe that guy my life) he tried to reassure me about spanking. "Have you read Steve Wood?" he asked... "yes... yes... of course" my answer. "You can't equate a spanking with being thrown against a wall and beaten. You are not your father." "Yes, yes... of course" was my answer. I didn't feel it though. That part about spanking is the only part of my therapy that didn't help. Spanking wasn't working. For my oldest daughter, it worked great. I only ever spanked her once or twice in her life, and that was enough. My son (who is our middle child) was a different story. The spankings were not decreasing in frequency. It wasn't working. I was an emotional and spiritual wreck. My youngest daughter... the third... was just plain

This is an incredible book and a very useful tool, especially for first time parents like myself. My daughter is not quite 2 yet and we already using some of the methods with her and it is working great! I recommend this book to all parents or anyone who works with children.

This is a fantastic and successful program. I started using it in my own house, with success, and then we started using it in the preschool where I am the director. It's simple, easy to use, and effective! I recommend it!