The Explosive Child

The Explosive Child: A New Approach for Understanding and Parenting Easily Frustrated, Chronically Inflexible Children by Ross W. Greene

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Spawn's counselor gave me this book to read almost a year ago. I'll be honest, I skimmed it a few times, using bits and pieces when it was convenient for me. Now that I've actually read the book in its entirety, I'm a huge fan. Because of the bits and pieces method I was using with my son before, I was skeptical if this book really had anything that could help me. Wrong! The first few chapters were a little rough to read, mostly due to the format and my personal skepticism, but once I got into the meat and potatoes of the book and saw where the author was going with it... well, I didn't even finish reading the book before I started doing some of the things with my son. One of the clearest and honest parenting books I've read. This book addressed every aspect of raising an explosive child and gave me all the tools I need to start making things better.

Synopsis: Almost everyone knows an explosive child, one whose temper and extreme noncompliance leaves his or her parents standing helpless in fear, frustration, and guilt. Now, in The Explosive Child, Dr. Ross Greene, the noted therapist who has worked with thousands of these children, offers parents good news: These kids aren't bad; rather, they suffer from a physiological deficiency in frustration tolerance and flexibility. This compassionate book helps parents grasp the underlying problems of explosive children, defuse explosive episodes, and reduce tension and hostility levels for the entire family by providing invaluable tools for coping with this behavioral disorder.