How One Family Learned That Saying No Can Lead to Life's Biggest Yes

This message is for all of us with children. Even if you don't have a child, but have a part in a niece or nephew's life, this book speaks to us all. Its message is too important to keep our head in the sand and not talk about. Our futures are dependent on us doing hard things and raising grateful kids who want to be difference makers. I highly recommend this book. I read it the first time, then re-read slowly, and now am reading parts with my husband. There are good ideas, great discussion points, and much to think about.

Very easy read and truthful testimony. Highly recommend. It's a good lesson on tough love and being okay with having to be the bad guy now and then. Great advice on setting expectations and ground rules/limitations on kids and sticking to them.

I could relate to this book in the first chapter. It made me realize more about myself as a parent, and the impact I have on my children. I believe any parent can relate to this book. I think a teenager should read this book also.

Read this book for our book club book. I thought this book provided some good insight and also made me think of the things I am teaching my children. I think that there are some great ideas that Kristen provides to the reader.

An insightful, funny and inspiring book. As a Jesus following Mom & Dad, we really appreciate Kristen's instruction, sharing and insight but I really think that any family could benefit from these lessons. I don't expect the kids to thank me any time soon for the changes we're making...but, they will thank me eventually! (and maybe their eventual employers and spouses will too!) :)

This book could be more aptly titled "The Christian's Guide for Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World". The author brings up some good points, but it places too much emphasis on religion for my liking. In place of this, I would recommend any of the Positive Discipline books by Jane Nelson. The emphasis is not on gratitude, but the concepts and tools are much more actionable in my opinion. If you prefer secular perspectives and ideas based on research and study vs anecdotal stories and religious themes, save your money, don't buy this book.

A wonderful book, must read for parents who are struggling with ungrateful children, or soon-to-be parents whose desire is to start parenting right. Kristen makes suggestions about boundaries to make and how to discipline without saying her way is the only right way. Coming from a biblical world view, Kristen is able to put absolute truth into everyday life and show the reader how destructive our society has become.

I bought this to connect with my daughter-in-law, who had been invited to a Bible study using this book too.
For the most part, I enjoyed the practical advice and the realistic approach to modeling grateful behavior and godly attitudes.
I didn't need the author's forays into her version of the moral high ground and moral truthiness.

There are some good points in here about following through with discipline and learning to handle money wisely. However, there are many points in this book that made me realize it wasn't for me.

I don't think it leads to well adjusted kids at all. For example, at one point, the author relates how her son almost had a mental breakdown because he saw the cover of an adult magazine in a French airport. What part of this leads me to believe he can function in society? In addition, it sounds like these kids don't have many friends and generally aren't sure how to interact with their peers. The lessons on interacting with the rest of the world who don't agree with you are incredibly important, for everyone, and yet they're missing out because they're terrified their peers will talk about something 'bad' and make them 'dirty' by simply hearing it.

I understand this family believes life and functioning in society don't matter, it's making Jesus happy and getting into Heaven at the end that matters. But unless that's where your priorities are too, I can't recommend this book.

I loved this book and have already recommended it to several friends!! I used a highlighter and made notes in the margins. As much as i read, I don't tend give out specific recommendations very often. However, I can wholeheartedly say that I hope if you're a parent you'll read this. Kristen Welch could totally be my friend. Her thoughts on Christian parenting in our largely non-Christian society are refreshing and down-to-earth. She doesn't pretend to be an expert, but rather to be a real mom in the trenches of the hardest, most wonderful job ever given to a human. She challenges us to raise kids who go against the flow, to live intentionally, and gives realistic ways to not feed the entitlement beast. One of my favorite things she says is, "Sometimes the best way to help our kids is to not help them. They often become resourceful and responsible when we simply let them. We can do this by stepping back and being quiet. That doesn't mean we aren't compassionate and caring. It just means we don't jump to fix their problems just because we have the time, money or resources. Yes, part of parenting is coming to their aid, but if we always rush to do so, we fail to teach them the other part that is just as important as knowing we will be there to help them. And that's letting them know we will be there when we can't help them." You will likely walk away realizing how much you are already doing well and discover some things you can always work on. I honestly closed the last page of this book feeling like I was on the right track and that, while I have some areas I can certainly improve upon, I have a good tribe who are in this with me and can keep me accountable.

I only got through the first chapter because I didn't realize how "Jesusy" it was. I was just looking for parental advice, not spiritual advice. I will keep reading it when I have time, but I haven't gotten over the whole "not what I was expecting" part yet.

This book started great. Huge eye opener and I was so excited to keep reading. Talk about a wake up call. She tells you in the beginning that she is Christian woman and this book will include how she tried to raise her children this way. I am too and so I am onboard. She also tells you this isn't another book about judging you as a parent, but then she does...all the way through. She constantly is sharing her views on subjects like abortion, sexuality, LGBT community, even how she doesn't allow her kids to watch the Disney Channel because it's so awful. Very very conservative views. That's where she lost me. The book becomes very self righteous. She says she is far from a perfect parent but boy does she ever paint herself this way. I turned it off when she blatently told her 2nd grader that she would not be getting her flowers for her at her graduation. She's 8 and although everyone doesn't deserve a prize or flowers, I pictured how awful that would have made me feel as an 8 year only. But In her opinion, that is society's entitlement problem. Not sure I 100% agree. This books includes a ton of scripture, which in parts, is too much. She is not the average Christian woman. When she questions scripture, she claims she goes home and lays out the Hebrew language notes and books and decifiers what things really mean. I don't want to be that "perfect". Sorry. This book had so much potential. Dissapointed.

We've done our share of home improvements over the years. Each one always brought hope for our home to be a place of comfort and invitation for our family. We also had to protect our investment over the years which required maintenance type projects like a new roof or siding or windows.

I love watching the home improvement shows but something funny begins to stir in me after a while - - discontent. If not careful, I can begin to look around and see what room should be painted a different color, flooring should be switched out or worse yet, bathroom should be redone. And truly, nothing needs to be improved at our home at this time.

In her book, Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World, Kristen Welch hits it on the head:

And as uncomfortable as it sounds, parents who want less-entitled kids have to be less entitled themselves, and parents who want to raise more grateful kids need to start by living more grateful lives. (page 11)

Media has increasingly made it difficult to be content with what we have, where we are, and who we are. Commercials drive us to get the next new product in the hopes of being able to be successful and achieve our dreams. Along with eroding our contentment, we are driven to get it quickly, now.

My children are grown adults, now raising their own children. I pray we, as their parents, raised them to work hard and to be grateful for what they have been given. But only time will truly tell if they learned the lesson and are able to resist the pull which surrounds them.

Kristen readily admits she is not a child psychologist but a parent facing the same challenges as us all. You may not agree with everything she shares as she surely goes against the "norm", which will require courage, but you will be left to think about yourself and parenting. Your eyes will be opened to the slow erosion occurring not only in children but in our own hearts as well. She addresses topics such as:

wants vs. needs
changing times
self-centerness
technology and setting boundaries
cultivating obedience in our children
disciplining with love and grace
developing gratitude
ways to implement change (in ourselves and our children)

At the end of each chapter, she makes suggestions which she breaks down into age appropriate stages - toddlers/preschoolers, elementary, tweens /teens, and parents. These suggestions will assist parents in making the small changes, along each stage of life, to continually teach our children to embrace gratitude. These can be tweaked to suit your own family and children. She also includes:

a cell phone contract between parent and child
a Christian parent manifesto
a list of recommended resources

This is a must read book for every parent to inspire us to save our families from becoming selfish and self-centered. We can turn the hearts of our children back towards God and gratitude. May we start with changing ourselves first. This book makes for an excellent small group study as there also is a discussion guide.

** I was provided this book by the author and Tyndale Publishing in exchange for my honest review.

I came across this book while randomly browsing the shelves at my local library, and right there at that moment, without looking it up, reading reviews, or even checking out the blurb, I decided to pick it up.

Because let's face it, this parenting business is hard. And to be honest, this book's title spoke directly to one of my biggest parenting concerns, ever since my son outgrew the toddler phase. So I quite literally devoured the book.

However, now after reading through it all, I am kinda conflicted on how I feel about it.

On one hand, even though it wasn't exactly what I was expecting, there were a lot of really valuable parenting tips and insight that I got to take away from the book.

But on the other hand, there was also a dominant religious theme all throughout the book, where the author spoke extensively in support of (what is considered) the Christian world view, which included conservative thoughts on gays and abortion. And no, there was no direct propaganda for or against any choice, but the message on what is considered normal and acceptable was clear.

Now to be completely honest, I personally wasn't offended by any of it, because I consider myself to be a liberal Hindu (and yes, contrary to popular opinion, we exist, we are not mythical creatures), who doesn't get easily offended by contrary points of view. Nonetheless, the presence of these themes weighs on my mind whenever I think about recommending this book, so I thought of mentioning it in my review.

And this is the reason why I urge you to take your own call on whether the presence of these themes bothers you. Because if you ask me, I'd say this book is definitely worth a read just for the parenting tips and insights it provides, so long as you don't get easily offended by (possibly) contrary points of view on some socio-religious topics.

- Shantala (Book Blogger at Shanaya Tales)

The title and synopsis of the book really did not convey that this is very much a Christian parenting book. I am a Christian and so that would have not prevented me from reading the book but I think it should be acknowledged.

The book started out great and then little by little the author would slip in very conservative and judgemental comments that rubbed me the wrong way.

Even then I tried to push through and finish the book but the book started going from a book on entitlement to basically a book on how to raise your kids as Christians. Which, once again, I don't necessarily have an issue with but the book was not represented well and was not what I expected.

Finally, about ten years ago, the light began to dawn, and you can’t imagine how disappointed I was. I realized that parenting is not a cause and effect proposition. It’s not a vending machine in which I insert my actions (seizing teachable moments, training in character, consistency in discipline) and then am rewarded by equal and corresponding reactions (obedience, respect, good behavior).

I’m a slow learner, so this was earth-shattering for me, but . . .

Having said that, Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch reminds me that if I want my children to appreciate their blessings and to operate out of gratitude rather than entitlement, I had better be modeling the right heart attitude myself.

In the Great Balancing Act called parenting, we are at war against three words: “Is that all?” In ourselves, in our kids, Western culture exacerbates our entrenched selfishness in everything from “ice cream servings to allowances.” “Enough” is never enough.

Kristen is writing from the trenches of raising three kids, and so the tone of Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World is NOT “we have arrived and here’s how your kids can ooze gratitude like our perfect children do.” She comes alongside her readers with humble offerings: “Here’s what we’re doing. Here’s what others have tried, and that’s great, too.” Kristen’s perspective is derived from the knowledge that parents who are willing to fight against the prevailing culture and for an attitude of thankfulness in their children will feel as if they are swimming upstream.

My oldest son talked early — and often — so I can still hear his husky toddler voice saying, “There’s a difference between a need and a want.” To me! Even so, one need that is common to all kids is their parents’ love, and ironically, in our culture of possessions and privileges, it is common to find children who are sadly lacking in that need while every want is speedily fulfilled.

No one sets out with a goal of “spoiling” her children, but little daily choices that arise from incorrect thinking accomplish the task over time. Kristen unmasks some of these:
1. We want our kids to be our friends.
2. We’re afraid to say no because of the fallout (slammed doors, tears, eye rolling, shouting).
3.We feel guilty about our circumstances and try to compensate with permissiveness.
4.We are busy. We eat fast food on the way to one of Junior’s three different soccer league practices, take on an extra job to pay for a Disneyland vacation, and don’t have time for the slow work of eyeball to eyeball interaction in which we pass on our values.
5.We don’t want them to fail, so we make things “easy” for them.
6.We don’t want them to feel left out, so we cave to the “everyone else” argument.
7.We don’t want them to be unhappy.

It is not for nothing, then, that Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World provides an end-of-each-chapter assortment of age-related hints for going against the flow.

For parents:

“Put a plan in place. Decide in advance what you will say ‘yes’ to.”

For toddlers:

“Make cookies together. You may eat one for your effort, and then give the rest away to brighten someone’s day. Teach your children that we don’t have to keep everything for ourselves.”

For elementary age:

“Clean out closets and drawers, and instead of giving away only things that they won’t miss, urge your kids to include something they really love to share with someone else.”

For tweens/teens:

“It may seem to your son or daughter as if she’s the only one in her class or he’s the only one in his grade or on this planet who isn’t fitting in or keeping up. But if we are going to compare ourselves to others, let’s also compare ourselves to kids who live in poverty.”

The award for most practical feature goes to the chapter called “Making Smart Choices about Technology” with its related idea of a cell phone contract.

Central to all this intentionality and hard work is the goal of introducing kids to the freedom of self-discipline; to the security that comes from seeing parents follow through on their principles; and the self-confidence that can only come to kids who have been allowed to “struggle” a bit and then to solve their own problem before a parent comes swooping in to rob them of the privilege. We must love our children enough to make the hard choices that lead to a lifestyle of gratitude.

This book was provided by Tyndale Momentum, an imprint of Tyndale House Publishing, in exchange for my review. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

Just reading thru the contents will give you an idea on what kind of helpful book this is! "Wants vs Needs", "Making Smart Choices about Technology", "Gratitude is a Choice"... they even include a cell phone contract in the back of the book between parent and child!

I like that the author shares a personal story in her introduction and goes on to say that this book is NOT a guide or list of dos and donts. She does "bring expert opinions and shares research and ideas", the book is her personal journey of attempting to raise grateful kids, and the ups and downs-it's their family's unfinished story.

"Parents who want to raise more grateful kids need to start by living more grateful lives."

"When our kids begin to expect-even demand-more than our love, that when we have a problem."

She uses examples from her own family, the bible, and even her ministry work at the Mercy House. This book is for parents with kids of any age! She gives suggestions on how to start and what to do with toddlers on up to teenagers, so this book truly will bless anyone!

I am going to re-read this with my husband so we can learn together and teach our 2 boys valuable, Godly lessons about entitlement and wants vs needs. I have enjoyed what I've read and learned so far from this book!

It was released in Jan 2016, so this is a recent book with relevant ideas pertaining to today.

I received a copy of this book complimentary from Tyndale Blog Network in exchange for an honest review on my blog and social media. All opinions are my own.

Lately, talks with my 8 year old have always centered around her being ungrateful. It's tough raising a child in this world and there's nothing I want more than for my her to appreciate God's blessings and the life she has. Sometimes we need a helping hand. This book gives it to you in terms of inspiration and encouragement. It doesn't teach you how to raise your kids, but it will make you question yourself. It gives you a glimpse inside another parent's world and the techniques they used. It doesn't sugar coat the experience, but what it does it force you to look at your own life and how you live, interact and parent. I've been recommending this book like crazy since the first paragraph read on the first day I rented it from the library. I ended up buying it because I believe the suggestions used are worthwhile to remember, study and re-read over again. Do yourself a favor and read this. This should be required reading for every parent.

I bought this hoping for tips on raising grateful kids. I didn’t realize it was religious based. I won’t make that mistake again. I have no interest in the authors opinion on abortion or homosexuality. I would return it if i could figure out how

It seems that a sense of entitlement is the natural state of affairs in our society. I wish I could say that it was limited to children, but adults live with it, too. Honestly, I struggle with it more than I would like to admit. As a result of struggling with it myself, seeing it in some of the students I teach, and seeing it in my own children, when I had the opportunity to read and review "Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World" by Kristen Welch (published by Tyndale House Publishers), I jumped at the chance. Boy, am I glad I did!

The book is about 240 pages, including notes. There are three appendices: “Cell Phone Contract Between Parent and Child,” “Christian Parent Manifesto,” and “Recommended Resources.” There is also a discussion guide before the notes.

Welch does a wonderful job of discussing the ways in which are children are entitled, and provides many helpful ideas of how to help our children become more grateful. The book’s focus, however, is on what we, as parents, need to be doing ourselves to ensure that we are communicating a grateful attitude in our homes, as we cannot expect from our children what we are not living ourselves.

Chapter 1 deals with the subject of wants versus needs.

Chapter 2 tackles the idea of how times have changed and how it is necessary, as parents, to be sure that we are instilling a biblical worldview in our children that is counter to our society’s constant desire for more.

Chapter 3 talks about seven ways that we, as parents, have struggled in raising grateful children and provides instruction on how to do fix it. A few of the reasons we falter on the issue are “We Want Our Kids To Be Our Friends” (p. 51), “We Are Afraid To Say No Because of the Fallout” (p. 53), and “We Don’t Want Them To Feel Left Out” (p. 57).

Chapter 4 talks about how our homes often become child centered, and the ways that this negatively impacts our children.

Chapter 5 discusses ways parents need to take precautions and think through the issue of technology use with their children.

Chapter 6 talks about helping children learn obedience and to go against the flow of our culture in terms of expectations.

Chapter 7 talks about “Living Out God’s Love In Your Home” (p. 129). This chapter was especially good, laying out ways to be sure that our homes are centered around Christ. This is, in some ways, the key stone to everything else discussed in the book. If Christ and His word are not central to our homes, then going against the flow in society as discussed in the other chapters simply doesn’t make sense.

Chapter 8 reminds us that we have to choose to be grateful. The chapter briefly discusses the benefits of gratitude before giving some practical ways to cultivate gratitude in our lives and homes.

Chapter 9 puts the information from the other chapters into practical use, providing “Seven Steps to Raising Grateful Kids” (p. 176). Some of the ideas are teaching children to value hard work, teaching them the value of money, and teaching responsibility and how to manage consequences. All of the steps are much needed in our society.

Chapter 10 is titled “Dear Parents.” Rather than being a traditional summary and wrap-up chapter, this chapter reminds parents that the things discussed in the book are difficult to follow through with and that they may cause difficulties in the home and in the children’s lives. How could we expect less? When we ask our children to go against everything the culture around them teaches, there will me misunderstandings, loneliness, and push back. But, as the author points out, that is what we should expect as followers of Christ. I like the fact that the author doesn’t sugar coat this; instead, she calls it like it is and helps parents figure out how to prepare children for it and deal with the issues as they come up.

Each chapter ends with a section of helpful tips called “Going Against the Flow.” There are always a few notes directed directly to parents, followed by some ideas for putting the ideas from the chapter into practice with toddlers/preschoolers, elementary students, and tweens/teens. It is very helpful to get some practical insight on how to apply what you are learning as you read.

I would highly recommend this book to all parents. My only regret is not having this book earlier, perhaps even before we had children in the first place. Already I have shared portions of the book with my wife, and she plans on reading it herself. We may even read it together. This is definitely one book I plan on keeping and passing down to my kids to read as they get older.

If at all possible, buy this book and read it prayerfully.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

As I watch my adult kids make parenting choices in the midst of technology mine fields and as I realize what the current culture would like to feed to my grand kids, this book was a very timely and relevant read.

Entitlement: the feeling or belief that you deserve to be given something.(Meriam-Webster online).

Author Kristen Welch, shares her family’s journey away from entitlement to new perspectives of serving others, working hard and making gratitude the goal. It’s a counter-cultural journey against a society that pursues happiness at all costs and allows child-centered homes in the process. For Kristen, the biggest goal in life is to love God and love others more than ourselves. She warns us that pursuing this goal isn’t “normal” and opposition is certain.

It starts with parents dealing with their own entitlement, and modeling gratitude. Absolute truth based on the Bible’s principles and making good personal choices are essential ingredients in growing this kind of family. Kristen discovered that training up a child in “the way he should go” (Prov. 3:6 )could mean that it's not how righteously a parent sows good into their children, but how a parent neglects training them in godliness and lets the child go his OWN way. In that case, a child may never turn from his own human natural sinfulness.

Because many parents are in the position of being able to give their kids more than they need, it’s hard not to pamper children. When a parent feels guilt because of busyness or divorce, or doesn’t want their kids to feel left out or unhappy, they may overindulge. Parents long for their kids to be their friends. Kristen says, "Kid's aren't meant to be our friends until they are independent of us." p. 53.

The section on making smart choices about technology devices and usage is very helpful. Parents need to stay current on what is trending and set not only usage boundaries but teach kids what is good and what is bad about social media and internet access. Technology access has to involve active parenting so the parent can lead with purpose rather than letting the culture lead with what is popular.

The last two sections of the book lay out a plan for establishing a God-centered home that is other-focused, balanced in grace and discipline, and filled with gratitude. Kristen has started a non-profit called, Mercy House, which ministers to women around the globe. Her emphasis on service as a means to bring perspective to children and a larger worldview is a reoccurring theme in the book.

In the last chapter, Kristen, warns parents that intentionally training children to be grateful in our self-centered culture will be difficult and kids will feel different than many of their peers. A discussion guide and several appendices are found at the back of the book, including a cell phone contract between parent and child. For any parent who wants to take on the challenge of overcoming entitlement attitudes, let this excellent, current resource start you on your journey!
This book was provided by Tyndale Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

I bought this hoping for tips on raising grateful kids. I didn’t realize it was religious based. I won’t make that mistake again. I have no interest in the authors opinion on abortion or homosexuality. I would return it if i could figure out how

It seems that a sense of entitlement is the natural state of affairs in our society. I wish I could say that it was limited to children, but adults live with it, too. Honestly, I struggle with it more than I would like to admit. As a result of struggling with it myself, seeing it in some of the students I teach, and seeing it in my own children, when I had the opportunity to read and review "Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World" by Kristen Welch (published by Tyndale House Publishers), I jumped at the chance. Boy, am I glad I did!

The book is about 240 pages, including notes. There are three appendices: “Cell Phone Contract Between Parent and Child,” “Christian Parent Manifesto,” and “Recommended Resources.” There is also a discussion guide before the notes.

Welch does a wonderful job of discussing the ways in which are children are entitled, and provides many helpful ideas of how to help our children become more grateful. The book’s focus, however, is on what we, as parents, need to be doing ourselves to ensure that we are communicating a grateful attitude in our homes, as we cannot expect from our children what we are not living ourselves.

Chapter 1 deals with the subject of wants versus needs.

Chapter 2 tackles the idea of how times have changed and how it is necessary, as parents, to be sure that we are instilling a biblical worldview in our children that is counter to our society’s constant desire for more.

Chapter 3 talks about seven ways that we, as parents, have struggled in raising grateful children and provides instruction on how to do fix it. A few of the reasons we falter on the issue are “We Want Our Kids To Be Our Friends” (p. 51), “We Are Afraid To Say No Because of the Fallout” (p. 53), and “We Don’t Want Them To Feel Left Out” (p. 57).

Chapter 4 talks about how our homes often become child centered, and the ways that this negatively impacts our children.

Chapter 5 discusses ways parents need to take precautions and think through the issue of technology use with their children.

Chapter 6 talks about helping children learn obedience and to go against the flow of our culture in terms of expectations.

Chapter 7 talks about “Living Out God’s Love In Your Home” (p. 129). This chapter was especially good, laying out ways to be sure that our homes are centered around Christ. This is, in some ways, the key stone to everything else discussed in the book. If Christ and His word are not central to our homes, then going against the flow in society as discussed in the other chapters simply doesn’t make sense.

Chapter 8 reminds us that we have to choose to be grateful. The chapter briefly discusses the benefits of gratitude before giving some practical ways to cultivate gratitude in our lives and homes.

Chapter 9 puts the information from the other chapters into practical use, providing “Seven Steps to Raising Grateful Kids” (p. 176). Some of the ideas are teaching children to value hard work, teaching them the value of money, and teaching responsibility and how to manage consequences. All of the steps are much needed in our society.

Chapter 10 is titled “Dear Parents.” Rather than being a traditional summary and wrap-up chapter, this chapter reminds parents that the things discussed in the book are difficult to follow through with and that they may cause difficulties in the home and in the children’s lives. How could we expect less? When we ask our children to go against everything the culture around them teaches, there will me misunderstandings, loneliness, and push back. But, as the author points out, that is what we should expect as followers of Christ. I like the fact that the author doesn’t sugar coat this; instead, she calls it like it is and helps parents figure out how to prepare children for it and deal with the issues as they come up.

Each chapter ends with a section of helpful tips called “Going Against the Flow.” There are always a few notes directed directly to parents, followed by some ideas for putting the ideas from the chapter into practice with toddlers/preschoolers, elementary students, and tweens/teens. It is very helpful to get some practical insight on how to apply what you are learning as you read.

I would highly recommend this book to all parents. My only regret is not having this book earlier, perhaps even before we had children in the first place. Already I have shared portions of the book with my wife, and she plans on reading it herself. We may even read it together. This is definitely one book I plan on keeping and passing down to my kids to read as they get older.

If at all possible, buy this book and read it prayerfully.

Note: I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for my honest review.

As I watch my adult kids make parenting choices in the midst of technology mine fields and as I realize what the current culture would like to feed to my grand kids, this book was a very timely and relevant read.

Entitlement: the feeling or belief that you deserve to be given something.(Meriam-Webster online).

Author Kristen Welch, shares her family’s journey away from entitlement to new perspectives of serving others, working hard and making gratitude the goal. It’s a counter-cultural journey against a society that pursues happiness at all costs and allows child-centered homes in the process. For Kristen, the biggest goal in life is to love God and love others more than ourselves. She warns us that pursuing this goal isn’t “normal” and opposition is certain.

It starts with parents dealing with their own entitlement, and modeling gratitude. Absolute truth based on the Bible’s principles and making good personal choices are essential ingredients in growing this kind of family. Kristen discovered that training up a child in “the way he should go” (Prov. 3:6 )could mean that it's not how righteously a parent sows good into their children, but how a parent neglects training them in godliness and lets the child go his OWN way. In that case, a child may never turn from his own human natural sinfulness.

Because many parents are in the position of being able to give their kids more than they need, it’s hard not to pamper children. When a parent feels guilt because of busyness or divorce, or doesn’t want their kids to feel left out or unhappy, they may overindulge. Parents long for their kids to be their friends. Kristen says, "Kid's aren't meant to be our friends until they are independent of us." p. 53.

The section on making smart choices about technology devices and usage is very helpful. Parents need to stay current on what is trending and set not only usage boundaries but teach kids what is good and what is bad about social media and internet access. Technology access has to involve active parenting so the parent can lead with purpose rather than letting the culture lead with what is popular.

The last two sections of the book lay out a plan for establishing a God-centered home that is other-focused, balanced in grace and discipline, and filled with gratitude. Kristen has started a non-profit called, Mercy House, which ministers to women around the globe. Her emphasis on service as a means to bring perspective to children and a larger worldview is a reoccurring theme in the book.

In the last chapter, Kristen, warns parents that intentionally training children to be grateful in our self-centered culture will be difficult and kids will feel different than many of their peers. A discussion guide and several appendices are found at the back of the book, including a cell phone contract between parent and child. For any parent who wants to take on the challenge of overcoming entitlement attitudes, let this excellent, current resource start you on your journey!
This book was provided by Tyndale Publishers in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this book. I've followed Kristen for a few years now through reading her devotional, her blog, and her book, Rhinestone Jesus. I've also supported her work through Mercy House purchases and have it set as my charity I support through the store Smile.
All that to say I'm a huge fan of hers.
She really hit this one out of the park, though. I found it to be full of both great theory and mindset but also practical, everyday advice. Yes, she has religious overtones because of her relationship with Christ, so I could see how that would be a turnoff to those with an aversion to faith. I would hope that even in spite of those points both believers and nonbelievers can glean wisdom from this timely, well-written book.
Thank you, Kristen, for providing my next book for my Mommy Bible Study group!

Before purchasing, I listened to a couple chapters on audiobook. Glad I did, because this book is not for me. If you're a conservative Christian (and "proud Texan") you may relate, but I really couldn't. I was turned off from the first anecdote where one of her children showed "entitlement" after a long day at the fair where she was bought cowboy boots. She failed to be properly appreciative and whined about something else in the car (gasp!). Parents decided the right thing to do was to return the boots. Because they could not locate the receipt (... perhaps because it had been a long trying day with the whole family at the damn fair...), the boots could not be returned, so they decided to make her work for them, and out of this the idea on which the book is based was born. Probably the author has some good suggestions, but from what I can tell they won't be unique, and there are loads of other "teach your kids gratefulness" books out there. I'll be reading one of them instead.

Reading this book has been similar to simply talking to another mom about the struggles and joys of raising children in this generation. There is no judgment or strict rules to follow - just a conversation about perspectives and strategies for teaching our kids, and ourselves, how to be grateful.

I like that Kristen spends a lot of time helping parents develop a healthy mindset. She points out that gratefulness is often learned by example. She also reminds us that "often our kids don't need more stuff or more freedom; they just need more of us." This journey begins with parents recognizing that we need to develop a healthy perspective - one that goes against the flow of today's culture.

There are many stories shared on these pages, both of parenting successes and of failures that can be learned from. I felt encouraged and affirmed in some areas of parenting, and also got some new ideas I can implement in the future! Hearing about the failures was helpful too because it reminds me that we're all in the struggle together. I like that at the end of each chapter there is a Going Against the Flow section which highlights key points for parents and provides a few practical age appropriate suggestions for toddlers/preschoolers, elementary, and tween/teens.

There are discussion questions included at the end of the book. I think this would be a great book for a small group of mothers to read and discuss together. This calling of motherhood is no easy task, but reading books like this one can help give a little encouragement and wisdom for the journey.

*I received a complimentary copy of this book from Tyndale Publishers in exchange for an honest review.

Kristen Welch recreates accounts of her family's encounters with ungrateful behavior, with a look at her own struggle with a growing sense of entitlement (the need to dote over her young children with a slew of Christmas gifts, or her jaw-dropping envy of friends' homes). She gives details about establishing wants verse needs with ourselves and with our children, and that "nothing makes us more grateful than perspective". She gives practical, age appropriate suggestions at the end of each chapter to start implementing each area of her book, but also reminds the reader she is NOT an expert (but does make references to several who are), yet is willing to share some raw moments of what her & her husband are doing to cultivate gratitude in their home.

This book redirected my pointing finger from my man cubs' entitled & ungrateful behavior, right back at me. I wasn't even sure if I liked the book during the first few chapters because of the conviction it delivered. After I came to terms with needing that slap in the face reality check, I was able to draw more out of the book.

I may not agree with everything in this book, and not all applies to our household just yet, but I will be keeping this close as my man cubs grow up to reference from time to time. I think this has been a great stepping stone in guiding me to instilling gratitude in our home, and it was definitely worth the read and the investment for our family.

I received a pre-released PDF copy of the book for free as being part of the launch team. Rest assure, I would NOT be promoting anything I didn't believe in, and this is an honest review of this book. To hear more about our journey with gratitude, go to MamaRevivalSeries.com

I am really struggling with this book; I was encouraged by the title and thought that me and my family would benefit from what I was led to believe it covered .... that being said, I think that the description of the book should be more up front about the religious right leaning agenda that this book appears to have. I could have done more research to learn about the author, but there was nothing in the title or description that would have led me to think that this was the tone of the book. That is wonderful that they are a Christian family, as is my own, but I am not looking for the author's commentary and opinions on Chris Jenner, gay marriage, etc. when what I am really seeking is practical guidance on raising grateful kids.

have completed a wonderful book called Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World by Kristen Welch. I've read her blog for many years as well as her previous book Rhinestone Jesus so I was excited to be able to read this new book.

There's no question our society as a whole has an entitlement mentality. I've witnessed this multiple times in my life, and it's just everywhere really in all different age groups. In this book the author shares her experiences with her own family off what they do to raise grateful kids. She admits it is not easy to be different from the world, but as Christians that is who we are supposed to be. I appreciate her honesty as a Mom that she is not an expert and doesn't have everything figured out.

The book is easy to read with 4 parts divided into ten chapters. Each ends with practical ideas of how to implement the ideas in your own family with ideas for parents, toddlers/preschoolers, elementary aged, and tweens/teens.

I marked a lot in this book as I read and gained some wonderful ideas to incorporate in our family. I want my husband to read it next, and I plan to reread it too at some point because it just has so much good stuff.

I received this book from Tyndale reviewers' program for my honest review.

I just previewed a new book titled, "Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World" by Kristen Welch. It's a great parenting resource! While there was a lot of content related to teaching kids the practice of gratitude, there is also a lot of good overall parenting advice. I very much enjoyed reading Welch's stories and her practical advice. Here are some of the topics she bravely ventures into:

wants vs. needs
self-centered culture
kids & technology
obedience
creating and maintaining a Christ-centered home
the choice of gratitude
navigating rough waters of life

I would recommend this to any parent who wants to raise children in a a Christ centered home, with the goal of raising children that love Jesus. I received this book as a gift from the publisher in exchange for my honest review

Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World: How One Family Learned That Saying No Can Lead to Life’s Biggest Yes by Kristen Welch is a must-read book for parents trying to raise kids in today’s get-everything-you-want-in-seconds world.

Kristen’s book is written in such a way that it challenges readers to different ways of thinking, but it does so without making you feel guilty. Kristen is honest about her own struggles with feelings of entitlement, and she makes it clear she’s not perfect either. I love how authentic her writing is.

In the book, Kristen writes about the difference between wants and needs, about typical mistakes many parents make, about technology and how it affects our kids’ worldview, about living out your faith in such a way that your kids long to be different than the world, and about gratitude. She shares from her own experience things that have worked for her family to help her kids become more grateful and less entitled. If you’re tired of your kids acting entitled all the time, I highly recommend this book.

*I received a free electronic copy of this book for review, but all opinions are my own.

I wish every new parent was required to read this book. It is thoughtful and full of great advice on how to raise grateful kids. What I liked most about the book was that the author does not come across as an authority on the subject and does not say you have to follow her advice completely to raise good kids. Welch admits to not being perfect, to making mistakes, and to being in the middle of raising her kids right now and learning as she goes. She suggests reading the things that have worked for her family and picking and choosing what you think will work for yours.

I got a lot of great ideas from this book. I loved the idea of a gratitude journal, of finding opportunities to volunteer my time with my kids, and finding time to really listen to my kids and pray for them more often. This is a great book to help parents raise good kids who can be compassionate, respectful, and grateful. It is filled with advice to help raise kids who will be ready to face the challenges of adulthood. I highly recommend it.

"Raising Grateful Kids in an Entitled World" by Kristen Welch is a book not just steps to help create grateful children but also the author's story on her own children. This book was a very honest book about gratefulness. The author had no problem telling us when her, her husband or children were even thinking or acting entitled themselves. I also enjoyed her writing that there is nothing wrong with having stuff for example but its our attitude about the stuff. She also encourages you while you are teaching your kids to be more grateful not to put them or yourself on a pedestal about it. This book was a good book on teaching being humble. I highly recommend it as it was a great teaching guide for kids and even the parents on being grateful.

I was given this book from NetGalley for my honest review and was not required to give a positive review.