Licensed to Drive! is a prescription for celebration and sanity. What a wonderful creative idea, celebrating this major event in young people’s lives and at the same time giving them support and counsel through a rite of passage that can make a life and death difference! - Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and The Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations

Licensed to Drive! is a unique and useful tool in the arsenal that parents need to manage the education of their teen drivers. Lynn concentrates on strengthening the ability of parents to communicate with their children at a critical time. By writing this little gem of a book, she has provided other parents with the benefits of her own hard-won wisdom. It’s a valuable roadmap for action. - Phil Berardelli, author of Safe Young Drivers: A Guide for Parents and Teens

The genius of this book is recognizing the need, creating a party-structure to fill it, and giving you and me a set of clear yet flexible instructions. With this slender book in hand, you’ll be able to plan and hold a Licensed to Drive! party for someone you care about, with a minimum of wasted energy. Bravo! - Doug Lipman, author of eTips from the Storytelling Coachnewsletter.

Don’t hesitate to do this! Share the wisdom and love of family and friends in this important rite of passage that launches your teens into adulthood. - Eileen Piersa, MSOD, MA and Steve Dahi, Certified Family Coaches and Parent Educators, www.WisdomCircles.com

As a high school teacher I see the joy in new driver’s eyes; and I have visited hospital rooms with kids who drove too fast. What a difference it would make if Licensed to Drive! was a part of every driver education program! Our teens would be empowered to be responsible; they’d be celebrated; and perhaps more of them would be alive. - Professor Jill Raiguel, MS, MFT, Cal Poly Pomona.

Lynn’s unique touch of playful blessing adds richness to the simple extended family meal as a way to transmit generations of experience, wisdom, and concern. Instead of anxious negative messages, the new teen driver is armed with a new badge of membership (that keychain) that belongs to a loving community and symbolizes an attitude of safety and responsibility. - Gail Gabriel, MFT

Lynn’s simple, effective, and fun system of providing a rite of passage for new drivers is clearly laid out in this book. Licensed to Drive! serves both those with deep religious convictions and those who are more secular in their outlook. Having worked with youth for more than two decades of my life I highly recommend using this book to bring supportive and instructive recognition to all new drivers. - Rev. William E. Nebo, Presbyterian Minister

Parents who follow the path of least resistance embrace the spirit of their child, releasing parental stresses and reclaiming parental joys.

Bellevue, WA - September 8 — It’s easy to get into a rut. It’s easy for parents to plead, bribe, threaten, or punish in an effort to get a child to behave or act in a specific way. And, it’s particularly easy to use these means when parents find themselves increasingly stressed from the demands of work and life - much less those that come with raising a spirited child.

Instead of the joy of parenting, these parents are in the stress of parenting.

Common wisdom dictates that if you want a different result you need to take different actions. Unfortunately, human nature is such that the path of greatest immediacy is the most well worn path — to do more of the same, to do as ones parents did, to apply more emphasis, try harder, redouble ones efforts–in other words, to reinforce the rut.

Joyous Child Joyous Parent: 60 Ways to Have More Fun and Joy with Your Child by Connie Allen, MA helps parents shift out of their well-worn patterns. Allen encourages parents to take actions that will bring out the loving, joyous connection that every child wants to have with their parent.

Joyous Child Joyous Parent helps parents work with their child’s spirit, instead of trying to bend it to some preformed idea. Both parent and child begin to feel nurtured and supported. Joy begins to bloom. Instead of trying to modify a child’s behavior, Allen encourages parents to focus on their behavior, to look at what actions they can take that will nurture their child’s emotional, social, and physical wellbeing.

This book helps parents act from these key principles:

• Develop a relationship that is mutually satisfying to both parent and child
• Recognize, foster, and nurture the emotional wholeness of their child
• Nurture themselves so that they can be more fully there for themselves and their child.

Suggested actions move parents to be more focused and mindful of what is going on in their child’s inner world. Some examples are:

“Perceive your child as a partner who wants to easily get along with you.”
“Express how you honestly feel and what you want in a given situation, not how you believe a “good person” or a “good parent” should feel.”
“Ask questions with a sincere desire to hear an honest, unexpected answer.”
“Respond to what she did, not why she did it.”
“Schedule time when you and your child are relaxed to work out solutions to your repetitive, difficult interactions.”

As a parent’s behavior shifts to ones that are more nurturing, their child’s behavior naturally shifts in accordance.  As the child’s behavior shifts, both parent and child find themselves enjoying a more fulfilling and enjoyable relationship.Both the spirit of the child and the parent are equally nurtured.

About the Author

Connie Allen, M.A., founder of Joy with Children Consulting, began her work in response to the emotional distress she saw in children growing up in our modern world and the challenges experienced by their loving parents and educators. As an expression of the joy she finds in relating with children and watching them grow, she shares her insights with others to increase their effectiveness in creating the joyful relationships with children they most desire.

With a master’s degree in psychology and over 25 years experience teaching and working with children, families, and educators, Connie inspires others to joyfully and courageously live their own truths. Connie’s specialties are bringing out the natural best in young people and supporting parents and teachers to have joyful, authentic relationships with children.
You can learn more about Connie at her website http://www.joywithchildren.com.To arrange a book signing or interview, contact Connie at connie@joywithchildren.com.

Publication Data: Joyous Child, Joyous Parent: 60 Powerful Ways to Have More Fun and Joy with Your Child by Connie Allen, MA; Metacreative Press; Softcover, 112 pages, 5″ x 7″; $10.00; ISBN: 978-0-9796669-0-2. Publication Date: December 2008.
For information: http://www.metacreativepress.com or
Contact:  info@metacreativepress.com
Phone: 866.756.8679

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Metacreative Press proudly announces two new books available January 2009.

These books are the first within the True Wisdom Series - books written by people who have lived a life guided by inner wisdom.

	Joyous Child Joyous Parent
	Licensed to Drive!