Book Review

The 10 best Decision Every Parent Can Make by Bill and Pam Farrel
ISBN: 9780736917094

As the title of the book suggests, the authors present 10 decisions for parents to make concerning the way they raise their children. Each chapter focuses on one of the decisions.

1. Decide to be a positive, proactive parent. Keep your word and act accordingly. Stay in tune with your child's needs and development.

2. Decide to be consistent. Both parents must agree with and enforce the same rules and beliefs and the consequences for breaking the rules.

3. Decide character counts. Focus on four aspects: spiritual skills, character qualities, relations skills, and life skills to help your child develop their character.

4. Decide to have a plan to help your child to be a learner and leader.

5. Decide to be creative. All children are different and not all respond the same way to learning and following the rules. A parent needs to be creative to get the message through to their child.

6. Decide to be a student of your child. Study your child and adapt your parenting to the development style and personality of your child.

7. Decide to partner with God. Pray. Pray as a couple. Pray as a family. Pray with friends. Pray with your child. Involve God, let Him be your guide. Personalize the prayer.

8. Decide to build a network. Know where to turn when you need help as a parent for a specific need or emergency. Never give up hope.

9. Decide to trust. As your child matures, let them know you trust them to make the right decisions.

10. Decide to celebrate. Celebrate the good decisions your child makes in life, especially their call to Christ.

Overall, this was a decent book. The authors support their statements with scripture and personal stories from their parenting days. Even though the book only has about 200 pages, it seemed like a much longer read. At the end of each chapter is a section titled "decision point" to help you focus on what you need to do. There are group discussion questions at the end of the book and a list of other recommended resources.