Alyson Schafer’s newest book Ain’t Misbehavin’ couldn’t have come at a better time. I know my children behave when they are not with me, everything we try to drill into them about manners and good behavior seem to be instilled in them, they just save it up for everyone else and don’t use it on me.

So what do we do when it doesn’t come out at home? What can we do to help the children not to fight, put away their clothes or stop picking their nose??  Alyson has some wonderful suggestions, quite a few I have tried already with great success.

Let’s take the nose picking incidents. It is a common thing for children to do, it is breaking the cycle that is hard.We have tried all the  different methods suggested in the book to try to get it to stop, but to no avail. After reading Ain’t Misbehavin’ we decided to try asking if J could excuse himself to the bathroom to take care of it since we don’t want to watch. So far so good, we are on a roll.

Apple, sweet little Apple. I love her to bits, but the truth is…she whines. And one thing that is sure to drive me up the wall or over the edge is whining. We have been trying to get the whining to stop, but to no avail. We’ve asked for it to stop, we have ignored it, but it hasn’t been working out for us.  This past week however, we have tried to be a bit more proactive.  Having Apple at home with a Work-at-home parent means that sometimes I have to work while she plays.  When I know I have to get some work done I try to make sure that I give a little more to her before I get working. I know her triggers and try to head them off. I know she whines more when I have work to do when she is awake (which is always now that she gave up naps) so I make sure to take her out to her favorite coffee shop or to the park and spend a little extra time just for her before I have to get to work.  So far so good, we have had a week with much less whining than usual.

I have really enjoyed having Ain’t Misbehavin’ handy, it is not a book to be ready cover to cover, but more of a reference to look things up as you need to.  I may have done a little extra looking up because I wanted to see what suggestions would be offered. Not only to I love them, but was pleasantly surprised to find out that a lot of the suggestions were things we were doing already.  Sometimes as parents we need reassurance that we are doing the right things with our children. Not that I am saying there is always a right and wrong, but perhaps a better or different way to try things out.

If you find yourself wondering how to help your children break a bad habit or pick up their clothes pick up a copy of Ain’t Misbehavin’ and keep it handy.  I know I will be keeping it close at hand for a while.

Disclosure – I am participating in the Ain’t Misbehavin’ program by Mom Central on behalf of Wiley Publishing.  I received a copy of the book to review and gift card as a thank you for my participation.  The opinions on this blog are my own.