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"This relevant book gets it just right! The key to real happiness isn't by keeping a smile on our kids' faces. The important lessons for parents to impart are all inside this practical and helpful book."

Antoinette M. Saunders, Ph.D., author of The Stress-Proof Child: A Loving Parents' Guide

"Our devotion to our children's happiness can sometimes lead us astray. This excellent and important book describes the common missteps every parent should know about."

Edward M. Hallowell, M.D., author of The Childhood Roots of Adult Happiness and Driven to Distraction

"This book feels so new and rich...the perfect guide for parents who want their children to enjoy truly contented lives. It takes more than providing kids with a stream of feel-good moments, and this wise book points the way."

Kama Einhorn, Senior Editor, Sesame Street Magazine

"Fantastic! This book takes complicated concepts and makes them very understandable. I've never seen it as well done."

Mary Doheny, Ph.D.,
clinical psychologist, Chicago



THE SECRET to rearing happy children? Don't make their happiness your greatest concern.

 Parents everywhere are proud to say it: I just want my kids to be happy! But what millions of well-intentioned moms and dads don't know is that making our children's happiness the most important thing often has the opposite effect—hurting the kids, and hurting us. It's no wonder that rates of youth worry, anxiety, and depression have been on the rise during the past twenty-five years, since parents widely began saying, and believing, that their children's happiness was the most important thing.

When parents pledge allegiance to the happiness of their offspring:

Too many kids...

  • Believe that having fun or getting their way are the most important things in life.
  • Don't know how to handle difficult feelings like sadness, hurt, and anger.
  • Operate as if they're the center of the universe.
  • Crumple easily in the face of tough challenges or disappointments.
  • Feel guilty or ashamed when they're not happy "enough."
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Too many parents...

  • Overshield their kids from experiences that build resilience.
  • Downplay the importance of moral and ethical behavior.
  • Exhaust or neglect themselves just to keep the kids happy.
  • Confuse their kids with mixed messages about what they expect from them.
  • Feel unnecessary guilt or shame when their children aren't happy "enough."

I Just Want My Kids To Be Happy! describes how and why an overemphasis on happiness leads to these negative effects. But we all want our kids to be happy, so how do we help them attain it without causing them harm? What should be our greatest concern—what should we think about and talk about if we want our children to enjoy happy lives?

Drawing from the substantial body of happiness research conducted during the past two decades, I Just Want My Kids To Be Happy! explains it all:

  • eight key ingredients that have been found to be an integral part of the lives of happy people (and how you can plant the seeds of these eight ingredients beginning while your children are young).
  • five aspects of CHILDHOOD that lay a foundation for happy lives (and what you can do to establish that foundation before the kids are grown).
  • one early life experience that serves as a safety net when life causes us to stumble (and how you can provide that all-important experience for your son or daughter).
  • HOBBIES, CLUBS & INTERESTS that best promote your child's happiness today and into the future (and how you can identify the ones that are right for your child).
  • ONE FAMILY ACTIVITY that helps protect kids and teens from some of the biggest problems—sources of unhappiness—affecting young people today (and how you can make this activity part of your family's life).
  • THE single attribute IN YOUR CHILD'S DEVELOPMENT that matters most—for your child's welfare, and for the welfare of the world.
In this highly readable and provocative book, you'll find the practical and sensible child-rearing roadmap you've been looking for—words to say, actions to take, attitudes to impart when the kids are young—that will set your sons and daughters on the path toward authentically happy lives. After all, isn't that what we really want for them?