I was given this book as a gift from my mother (should I be offended?!) and I think it has some great advice in it. As a parent of three children, I have been guilty of falling into the trap where I felt I always had to protect my children from failure. This book helped me put into practice what I already knew- sometimes children have to fail in order to be successful by their own hands. In other words, if your child does not want to do a project, they are going to learn more by failing the project than they would have by your cajoling, bribing, and subsequently doing the project for them. I think this is a hard lesson for parents to learn, yet an important one that can have major ramifications on your children's future. This book has great, practical advice and guidance for parents on the subject of discipline. It was definitely a "reality check" for our family!