It's Your Kid, Not a Gerbil by Dr. Kevin Leman

Do you feel like you are constantly loading the kids up in the car and trucking the family around all over town? When was the last time you had a meal together at the dinner table? Does at least one family member always seem to be missing? If so, you may be interested in Dr. Kevin Leman's radical idea expressed in his book It's Your Kid, Not a Gerbil.

In a society that is so focused on getting our children ahead of the rest and making sure they experience as much as possible, Dr. Leman steps outside of the norm and suggests doing the opposite. He points out the many ways that parents tend to push their children too far and states that "kids don't need half as much as we give them" (p. 65). His book is all about focusing on cutting out activities, simplifying schedules and focusing on just spending time with your children.

While the author's ideas do get the reader thinking, he tends to take a pretty radical stance on parenting which leads to a few contradictions throughout his book. Dr. Leman seems to take a cookie-cutter approach to parenting suggesting many times that there is only one right way. While reading the book, I enjoyed some of his philosophies but his humor came across as condescending and not at all funny.

I would recommend this book to parents with the caution of keeping an open mind and taking his words with a grain of salt. I always encourage looking at alternative methods of parenting and this book certainly succeeded in getting me, as the reader, thinking and rethinking my own methods and wondering if a simpler life would benefit my children.

Disclosure: The views expressed in this article are entirely my own. I was provided with a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale House Publishers for the purpose of an unbiased review. I received no other compensation for this review. For additional information, please view TheNorthForty Disclosure Policy.