Your Four-Year-Old: Wild and Wonderful

I am a stay at home mom of three older children and a four year old boy and I loved this book. I had a lot of worries about my lovable and intelligent son and this book was just a sigh of relief. Almost everything I read in this book described my son perfectly. He has a lot of positive qualites, but also his share of negative qualities (all of which were covered in this book) and it was refreshing to read that he is normal and will grow out of most of these things by the time he is five. Although this book was written in a European style, and many years ago in 1976, I still feel it is relevant to today. Kids change some, but not too much. Although I in no way advocate severe child rearing practices, I think today's child rearing recommendations are way too lax and touchy feely and haven't even worked for me. This book gave me good, positive ideas for caring for my son (that I may actually be able to do!) and also gave me the confidence to realize that most of what he does and says is normal.

I really enjoyed this book. It offered so many insights to my 4 year old's behavior and gave very sensible and practicle advice about how to deal with specific situations. The authors truly understand what it's like to parent a 4 year old!

This series of books is still the best in helping parents to understand the behaviors, and underlying causes and feelings, of their child at each age. Based upon sound research, they document the "average" child, but identify the range of possibilities. If nothing else, these have helped me to understand what is coming and different ways that I can deal with it, as opposed to simply dealing with behavior as isolated instaces.These books are a must for the considered parent. There is no need to read an endless pile of books - simply get one of these books for each year and you will be far better equipped to be the best possible parent you can be for your child. It's a great investment in your child (and your own sanity, trust me ...:-)

I own each of these books (there is one for each year of age until age 10, at which point the group combines the ages 10-14 in one last book). Being a new parent and needing a brief summary of what each age stage would be like emotionally, psychologically - these books have been a tremendous help. I have given them as gifts and each recipient has gone on to purchase the entire series. Do your friends, wives, and daughters a favor: buy one, and buy them when their child is young. I think this book was the only thing that helped explain my two year old to me and helped me know what was "normal". Sometimes, particularly for a new parent, "generalities" may be just the thing to provide reassurance. This book does it in a quick, concise, meaningful manner. Buy these books!

When you know what behaviors are "normal" for your child's age you can relax, stop the worry, and focus on appropriate solutions. This whole series of books accurately defines the ages and stages of children. These books keep your expectations realistic and allow you to avoid anger caused by a lack of understanding of your child's developmental stages.