Book Review: Bloom

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Before I had children, I thought I would be pretty well equipped to deal with any issue that came my way. I was a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and had some experience working with some pretty challenging students.

Then I had my daughter, followed two years later by my son. And I realized just how incredibly challenging parenting is. Parenting is HARD work. It’s stressful and overwhelming. Some days you want to quit, but you can’t. And you don’t always know which way to go. It can feel lonely and you can feel like a failure.

You don’t know how to tackle when your kids starts biting other people. Or you want to learn to yell less often. You have no idea how to start or what to do. You may have a child who is angry or anxious and you want a way to help them. The Bloom parenting method helps you take a collaborative stance with your children, improving their cognitive, emotional and social skills. Bloom tackles some really challenging situations that parents face as they are raising their children, including:

  • Morning Routines
  • Doing Chores
  • Biting
  • Hitting
  • Talking Disrespectfully
  • Yelling
  • Separation Anxiety
  • Trauma
  • Difficulty at School
  • Grief

Bloom is a practical parenting method that parents can use to connect and communicate with their children. Bloom focuses on what you can SAY, THINK and DO to handle these challenges.

What You Can Say - Actual sentences you can say to your children in response to these challenges.

What You Can Think - Sentences you can think in your head to keep yourself focused and calm enough to respond in a helpful way to the situation you’re trying to work on.

What You Can Do - Practical and easy to implement tasks that will help you address the particular concerns.

I’ve read a lot of parenting books, but not a ton have addressed physical aggression like they do here. As a mom of a child who has gotten physically aggressive in the past, this was helpful for me, especially the THINK part.

Here are a few examples from that chapter:

What You Can SAY - Anger and fear are BIG Feelings, but I can help you learn to handle them.

What You Can THINK - One moment at a time, my child will develop better coping skills

What You Can DO - Provide hope by sending the message, hard feelings get easier to manage as you learn new skills.

Bloom tackles challenging issues facing families today in an easy to understand and practical way. The HeartSmart conversations and activities are wonderful ways to build positive connections in your family through play and communication. The BrainSmart Mantras help adults stay positive and refocus on what matters. What a great resource!

Copyright © Coping Skills for Kids, part of Encourage Play, LLC 2021