Reconnected Kids – Book Review

I am not a bad mom for admitting that my kids have behavior problems. Every mom out there knows exactly what I mean. My older children are becoming more oppositional and difficult for me to discipline without yelling. I used to call it “strong willed” or “stubborn” or even “sassy”. I used to shrug it off.

I think that the first step to getting back on the right track is admitting you have or might have a problem. I worried that because my kids were being defiant and not listening all of the time that they actually had a medical problem. I even asked the pediatrician who then asked a series of questions about the behaviors the kids were displaying at home. His response, to my relief, was that they don’t meet the “guidelines” for having ADD or ADHD and it sounded to him like they were normal stages the kids were going through. I worried to myself, “But how do you know???”

I was excited to read Reconnected Kids: Help Your Child Achieve Physical, Mental, and Emotional Balance by Robert Melillo which  is a sequel to his other book Disconnected Kids.

When the book arrived I was actually afraid to read it and discover that my kids did have some disorder and that they couldn’t be broken of their new found habit of ignoring me as I shouted threats at them for their unruly behavior…. so sadly the book sat on my nightstand for a week.

Then I found the courage to sit and read. The book explains how the normal brain develops and milestones you should expect for your child’s age. It also explains how certain areas of the brain do not develop properly and what kinds of behaviors you might recognize in your child.

The book describes left and right sided tendencies and what kind of symptoms and behavior brain imbalances might resemble in children. Dr. Melillo later explains how you can correct these problems and suggests a Brain Balance Program for assisting re-training brains that are not balanced and how effective and research-based evident supports that the brain can recover from imbalances and “re-wire” itself.

I know it seems silly, but after reading the book I was able to breathe a sigh of relief. The book promotes making a plan and sticking to it to achieve attainable goals.

Thankfully this book has eased some of my apprehension and I am better at disciplining the kids for the same problems! Oh the joys of parenthood!

If you are a concerned parent, friend, or family member and you suspect that a child has a developmental problem, you should definitely discuss your concerns and seek medical advice, but reading Reconnected Kids may help you gain insight into how children’s brains develop, what age appropriate brain development/milestones are, and how a brain can change and grow. The book was very informative and had a lot of valuable information.

The product was provided for review. No compensation was received. The honest opinions are my own.