The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children

The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children | Wendy Mogel | Great, reassuring book

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The Blessing of a ...

	The Blessing of a Skinned Knee: Using Jewish Teachings to Raise Self-Reliant Children Wendy Mogel Penguin (Non-Classics), 2001 - 304 pages average customer review:based on 73 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Swimming to Los Angeles

Wendy Mogel, a child psychologist working in liberal monied West LA, realized that more and more of her privileged little patients were not sick. They were unhappy. And spoiled. And rude. So were her own kids. So she left psychology and returned to Judaism, the heritage shared by her own family and many of her clients, but shelved by virtually all of them as a source of practical wisdom.

The result is her book, Blessings of a Skinned Knee, and a new career teaching preventative parenting in schools, churches and synagogues rather than treating single families on the proverbial couch.

Much of the Judaica is prosaica, familiar to anyone who has sat through some High Holiday sermons and done a bit of study. Still, these are the touchstones of the tradition, beginning with "Honor thy father and mother" and the injunction, "Teach your child how to swim," and she handles them with an ecumenical, nondogmatic touch. Swimming, we learn from Wendy, means giving kids a bit of independence, even if they end up skinning a knee. The table is the altar of the home, a place to practice respect, express thanks, and clean up together. She writes in favor of more discipline at home, but also more autonomy and less fear out of the house (and on line). And she urges us to honor the sweet ordinariness of our kids as well as their potential for greatness.

The overall message sits well with me, and I am already trying to put some of her ideas into action. I've got to start with swimming lessons for my six-year-old!

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Great, reassuring book

This is the first parenting book I've wanted to read cover-to-cover. I was taking notes and applying ideas from the first pages. I can't say I've fixed all my parenting issues, but it's given me ideas where I didn't have any before.

The writing is crisp and clear. The ideas are common sense and presented in a non-preachy way. While the author draws on Jewish sources for her parenting concepts, you don't have to be Jewish to use this book.

a wonderful guidline

this book is very easy to read and very enjoyable.
i found myself learning so many things about my own jewishness along with some ideas for how to help my child find hers.
i love this book and bought several more copies to give to the other jewish moms in my moms group.
by the way -- while i was finishing up the last chapters...my brother and his wife happened to send me a copy of this book...they had no idea i was reading it and i found it totally randomly while searching amazon for jewish books.

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FANTASTIC BOOK - REC'D TO HALF-DOZEN ALREADY

Buy more than one copy, b/c you WILL want to pass it on, but won't want to let go of your own. One of the few level-headed, practical advice books out there. Shows common sense which is so uncommon.

solid common sense advice with a spiritual bent

This is a very solid, sweet book, full of practical, down to earth advice based on solid principles of good values. Mogel will not only help you raise a happier, better behaved and more moral child, but will raise the values of the whole family.

reviews: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, page 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15

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