Parking Lot Rules: And 75 Other Ideas for Raising Amazing Children

When Tom Sturges became a father, he wanted to be the best father possible, so he wrote Parking Lot Rules: and 75 Other Ideas For Raising Amazing Children. The focus of this book is not so much scientifically based, but it is more a guide that gives advice on the proper ways to raise a child. It ranges from teaching a child how to always be careful when in a parking lot to learning the proper times to say "please" and "thank you," to teaching the child the power of forgiveness. Sturges is no doctor by any means; he is just an ordinary father like all other fathers, but he wanted to make sure that all potential dads had something that gave them proper inside advice on how to raise their child. Sturges do not use specific research to back up his points; however, he does do research on topics such as chapter 21 where Sturges teaches the reader several signs in sign language. Sturges does this because instead of telling his son "I love you" in front of a group of his son's friends, he instead does a simple sign with his hand that means, "I love you." Sturges emphasizes that these signs are just as powerful as words when he says, "They [the hand signs] are easy to use and very efficient. They can be clearly seen across a soccer field or at a middle school graduation or over dinner at home" (49). Sturges does not have a Ph. D. or another title to back up his work, but he does refer to Dr. Eli Lieber for information such as researching the proper signs in sign language.

This book would be classified as "Nature and nurture" development because Sturges offers many different aspects of parenting and the best way to raise your child to be a healthy, happy, and safe child. Sturges does not explain directly what the nature vs. nurture theory is, but his entire book is about how to raise or nurture a child to become the proper adult that the parents think the child should become. Sturges knows that a child who has a difficult childhood is going to grow up with personality problems, so he offers this book to offer some advice to the parents who have no idea what they are doing. Some parents do not mean to neglect the child or raise their child poorly; they just do not know the proper ways to successfully raise a child.

I believe this book would be very helpful to parents. As I skimmed through it and browsed each chapter, I saw how there was a specific topic that was the main focus of each chapter, and all 76 chapters touch on an equally important topic. In chapter 62, Sturges discusses the topic of how to handle the situation when your child hurts itself and begins to cry. He advises the parents to use actions over words, "Let them speak without words. Put your hand (or finger) in their, and ask them to squeeze as much as it hurts...You will show them that you comprehend the injury and feel their pain with them" (149-150). Sturges knows that when a child