Loving Each One Best: A Caring and Practical Approach to Raising Siblings

With warmth and humor, parenting expert Samalin (Love and Anger and Loving Your Child Is Not Enough) comes to the aid of parents who have entered the sibling minefield. Tackling the big issues (what to do when the new baby arrives) and small ones (what to do when there is only one bowl of the favorite cereal left), she offers strategies culled from her workshops and seminars and hundreds of questionnaire responses from parents and children. There are parent-tested ideas for avoiding the fairness trap and what to do when a child's complaint about his brother is that ``he's breathing on me.'' Also discussed is how to get the kids out of the house in the morning and into bed at night without feeling like a traffic cop. Samalin discusses ways and means of carving out personal time, reducing stress and expressing anger without being destructive. Anecdotes drawn from real-life situations may occasionally strike some as overwrought, but are generally helpful. This is a good book to have when you're having more than one. First serial to Good Housekeeping and Parents' magazines; author tour. (Feb.)