There are lots of wrong ways to bring up your kids, but there are lots of right ones, too. There's no list of instructions you have to follow to the letter if you don't want your child to end up a loser. Richard Templar's The Rules of Parenting, Expanded Edition presents the principles to follow which you can adapt to suit you and your children. Templar -- author of The Rules of Life and many other best-sellers -- has brought together 100+ parenting tips you can start using instantly. Now updated and expanded with 10 brand-new rules, Templar's rules address everything you need to know from start to finish. Beginning with the first rule "Relax" and continuing through 100+ rules, this book presents a guide to everything a parent needs to know from toddling, school, boyfriends or girlfriends, through driving lessons and college. The book begins with a section that covers the most important rules, The Rules for Staying Sane. The rest of the sections cover some of the big questions of parenting, including the Attitude Rules, the Discipline Rules, the Sibling Rules, the School Rules, the Teenage Rules, the Crisis Rules, all the way up to the Grown-up Rules.

Table of Contents:
Contents Introduction     xi Part I Rules for Staying Sane     2 1 Relax     4 2 No One Is Perfect     6 3 Be Content     8 4 Know What You’re Good at     10 5 Almost Any Rule Can Be Broken Occasionally     12 6 Don’t Try to Do Everything     14 7 You Don’t Have to Follow Every Piece of Advice You Get (Including This One)     16 8 It’s Normal to Want to Escape     18 9 You’re Allowed to Hide from Your Kids     20 10 Parents Are People Too     22 11 Don’t Ignore Your Relationship with Your Partner     24 Part II Attitude Rules     26 12 Love Is Not Enough     28 13 Every Recipe Needs Different Ingredients     30 14 Anything Extreme Is Almost Certainly Wrong     32 15 Look Pleased to See Them     34 16 Treat Your Child with Respect     36 17 Enjoy Their Company     38 18 It’s Not about You – It’s about Them     40 19 Being Tidy Isn’t as Important as You Think     42 20 Good Parenting Is Calculated Risk Taking     44 21 Keep Your Worries to Yourself     46 22 See Things from Their Point of View     48 23 Parenting Is Not a Competitive Sport     50 24 Never Emotionally Blackmail Them     52 Part III Everyday Rules     54 25 Let Them Get On with It     56 26 Let Them Go (Wild)     58 27 Teach Them to Think for Themselves     60 28 Use Praise Wisely    62 29 Make Sure They Know What’s Important     64 30 Show Them How to Lose     66 31 Know the Value of Boundaries     68 32 Bribery Doesn’t Have to Be Bad     70 33 Moods Are Catching     72 34 You’re Setting Their Eating Patterns for Life     74 35 Communicate     76 36 Set Clear Targets     78 37 Don’t Be a Nag     80 Part IV Discipline Rules     82 38 Present a United Front     84 39 Carrots Beat Sticks     86 40 Be Consistent     88 41 Lighten Up     90 42 Focus on the Problem, Not the Person     92 43 Don’t Paint Yourself into a Corner     94 44 If You Lose Your Temper, You’re the Loser     96 45 Apologize if You Get It Wrong     98 46 Let Them Back in     100 47 The Right of Expression     102 Part V Personality Rules     104 48 Find What Incentives Work for Your Child     106 49 Every Child Should Have Something He Knows He’s Good At     108 50 Learn to Appreciate the Qualities That Remind You of Someone Else     110 51 Look for the Similarities Between You     112 52 Find Qualities to Admire in Them     114 53 Let Them Be Better Than You     116 54 Their Attitude Is as Important as Their Achievements     118 55 Keep Your Fears and Insecurities to Yourself     120 56 Mind Your Programming     122 57 Don’t Try to Have a Perfect Child     124 Part VI Sibling Rules     126 58 Give Them Each Other     128 59 Recognize that Squabbling Is Healthy (Within Reason)     130 60 Teach Them to Fight Their Own Battles     132 61 Work as a Team     134 62 Let Them Entertain Each Other     136 63 Never Compare Children with Each Other     138 64 Different Children Need Different Rules   140 65 Don’t Have a Favorite     142 66 Mix and Match    144 67 Find Each Child’s Strengths     146 Part VII School Rules    148 68 Schooling Isn’t the Same as Education    150 69 School Comes as a Package     152 70 Fight Your Child’s Corner    154 71 Bullying Is Always Serious    156 72 Teach Them to Stand Up for Themselves    158 73 Put Up with Friends of Theirs You Don’t Like    160 74 Remember You’re Their Parent, Not Their Teacher    162 75 Don’t Spoil Them     164 76 Let Up the Pressure     166 77 They Have to Live with Their Choices (and It’s OK)    168 Part VIII Teenage Rules     170 78 Don’t Panic     172 79 Remember Newton’s Third Law     174 80 Give Them a Voice     176 81 Don’t Look Under the Mattress     178 82 Running Around after Them Doesn’t Help Anybody     180 83 Don’t Stand in Front of a Speeding Train     182 84 Yelling Isn’t the Answer      184 85 Let Them Have the Last Word     186 86 Everything Comes with Strings     188 87 Show Some Respect for the Things They Care about     190 88 Adopt a Healthy Attitude to Sex    192 Part IX Crisis Rules     194 89 Don’t Use Your Kids as Ammunition     196 90 Let Them Cope in Their Own Way    198 91 Being Younger Doesn’t Necessarily Speed Everything Up     200 92 The Aftershock Can Last Forever     202 93 Tell Them What’s Going On    204 94 Teach Them to Fail Successfully     206 95 It’s Better to Agree Than to Be Right     208 96 All of Your Actions Speak Louder Than Any of Your Words     210 97 Make Sure They Know They’re Priority No. 1     212 98 You Can’t Fix Everything     214 Part X Grown-up Rules     216 99 Back Off     218 100 Wait Until They Ask for Advice     220 101 Treat Them as Adults     222 102 Don’t Try to Be Their Best Friend     224 103 Encourage Them Regardless     226 104 You Can’t Choose Who Your Children Love     228 105 Leave the Strings Off     230 106 Don’t Guilt-Trip Them     232 107 Remember They Still Need You     234 108 It’s Not Your Fault     236 109 Once a Parent, Always a Parent     238