Everything I Needed to Know About Parenting I Learned in Prison

by Leslie G. Nelson

When Leslie Nelson, a naive, small town girl got a job as a prison guard, her friends called her a female Barney Fife. But that job turned out to be a unique on-the-job training for motherhood. This non-fiction short will take you inside the prison and share tips on how to avoid riots in your own home.

Leslie is the mother of five children (three teenagers, heaven help her!). Her youngest is seven so "parole" is a long way off.

Genres: Parenting, Nonfiction

48 pages, ebook

First published November 2, 2013

Reviews

[Margaret Lesh · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a quick, informative, interesting book about parenting written from the unique perspective of a mother of five who happened to spend many years employed as a corrections officer in a prison. It made sense, though, when I thought about it. As parents, we want our children to become good people who make good decisions as well as becoming productive members of society. If we fail as parents and our children grow up without guidance, a correctional facility, unfortunately, may be part of their future. This sad reality, I believe, is one of a parent's worst nightmares.

Ms. Nelson gives practical, down-to-earth advice. Nothing earth-shattering or controversial but all given from a place of logic. I would recommend this book to any parent looking for guidance and something to add to their resource library.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

As in the case of others, I found the title of this short piece intriguing. Naturally, we all want the very best for our children and the author definitely presents some great ideas within a new context. I liked the way the author used specifics to bring her message home. The use of correctional facility procedures and concepts was indeed fascinating and very much point on. I do not have children, so could not relate as well as others might to the cases cited, but they seemed reasonable and very realistic. The easy going tone of the short piece was well suited to her ideas and premise. I did wonder, however, just how well her ideas would work. Most of them are not earth-shattering new, and it is possible others have tried them, with little success. Still, for parents looking for new perspectives on raising children, the does offer a lot of new ideas or methods to try. Parents everywhere would enjoy reading this and could probably learn a few new tricks about raising children. I received this from Library Thing to read and review.

[Courtney Whisenant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great practical parenting advice from the experiences of a correctional officer. This book was very short but full of wisdom and insight from a unique perspective. Being a correctional officer sounds like a tough job but so is parenting. I found all the job details to be very interesting, enjoyed the inmate stories, and loved the parallels shown between correcting inmates and correcting children. I highlighted several practices that I would like to implement in my own life and will be referring back to this book regularly. I want my husband to read it and will be recommending to all of my friends.

[Cindy Bigler · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. Wonderful author.

[Heike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Entertaining and insightful. The parenting logic is sound and well-presented, making implementation of the ideas presented easy.

[Mystee · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I have to admit, I love this title. I didn't have a clue what to expect. I mean, prison and children? The title alone made me smile. I know, I know; I'm not supposed to rate titles.
I loved the correctional officer perspective stories and really was surprised to find that this can be shifted to children. We all want the best for children, they are the future we (and they) depend on. And a correctional facility is not where we want them.
There are great ways and ideas that others may not have thought of. There are ways to be compassionate and loving to our children, without adding an over emotional angle that helps no one.
This is a quick read, but very valuable. It's a must have for parents (or those thinking about becoming parents). And I dare you not to smile while reading certain parts of this.

[Joan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to admit, I picked this book because of the title. I don't have kids, but I thought this would be a fun book anyway.

Truth be told, the prison guard stories were really cool, and that part of the book I enjoyed. When she tried to draw parallels to parenting, she lost me. For the most part, the techniques were: exactly the same but different.

All that being said, I feel like Nelson really is a great mother, and I can't imagine raising 5 kids. I just didn't see the correlation between one and the other. If she wrote a book on her life as a prison guard, though, I would definitely pick it up.

[Jess (Shepherdjel) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is quite interesting. Whether you are "parenting" Adults or kids it is still hard. We try everything we can to raise the best kids and sometimes it just isnt good enough. They have their own personalities and are influenced by so much more then just us as parents. But you are the biggest influence and should still try your best.

[Keith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful quick read

Who would have thought that you could draw comparison between being a corrections officer and being a parent. Ms. Nelson does a great job in a quick read.

[Bernice Gomez · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay

It was ok in my opinion. It was pretty general, nothing special. It did get me wanting to read a prison book.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

I want to be completely honest before giving a quick review of Leslie G. Nelson's Everything I Needed to Know About Parenting I Learned in Prison I got this book for free from Amazon for the Kindle. I also have no children but was interested in seeing how being a prison guard could help with raising children.

This book was broken up into section with each one dealing with another aspect of life in a prison and raising children At first I have to be honest I thought this book would be about pressing down on your children to make them follow orders while saying little or nothing but it wasn't. The tips in this very quick and easy to read book seem, in theory, to be great advice.

The chapter that I thought was the most helpful was, "Firm, Fair, Consistent". Nelson gives some solid points on how to follow through and reason with a child without belittling them or causing a scene. The mixing of prison experiences and parenting at first seem so far apart but after reading this book there is not too much of a difference.

I could see gifting a copy of this book to expecting parents or fairly new parents. Again not being a parent myself I am not sure but I would think that one method of parenting is not going to work so a few different books on the topic might be helpful. I think for many of the suggestions to work in this book they would need to be applied early in a child's development.

[Kendra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this book wasn't what I was expecting at all. Again, fooled by the cover and the title. I failed to read the synopsis when I requested this book- so I was expecting this book to be written by an ex-convict and to have a more humourous vibe to it.

While it wasn't bad, it wasn't good. I think she presented very good points on how to raise your children. Giving an example from prison and relating it back to kids. All points pretty much being based on positive reinforcements.

And I also fall into the age ol' debate of 'well you don't have kids so how can you possibly know anything about them or how to raise them'....However, while reading it I kept thinking.... you must have perfect angels as children if you feel you can write a book on how to raise them.... but thats just me.

I was also suprised at how short it was which translates to a quick self help read.

Would I recommend it? No, I don't think so.

http://justaddchampagne.blogspot.ca/2...

2.5 rounded up to 3 stars

[Angie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though I do not have children or am able to I really wanted to read this book. Nowadays it does not matter where you go there are screaming out of control children of all ages. This book had wonderful approaches on how to handle all stages of childhood. I loved the part about the terrible twos, it just makes common sense. There were big portions of the book that reminded me of how children used to be raised and how I was raised. "In spanish they do not have a word for spoiled, just badly raised." She writes in the book about positive attention and how much of a success it is. True. Like she says in the book "we all thrive on a little kindness, attention and sincere flattery".

Every person should have to get this book if they get pregnant. Than use it as a guide.

[Sherry Ellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Everything I Needed to Know about Parenting I Learned in Prison, author Leslie Nelson, shares her experiences as a corrections officer in a men's prison and shows how they relate to her experiences in parenting her five children. Topics covered include team work amongst parents, consistent parenting, solitary confinement, and positive attention. There are plenty of anecdotal stories of prison life and parenting life to make it a very entertaining read. It's a short book, but the good advice offered makes it a worthwhile one to add to your collection of parenting books.

[Alcqueline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a very quick and interesting read. I was drawn in by the title, because I used to work in a correctional setting. I was hoping to learn something new. However, I found the information matched what experience I gained from working in the field of corrections. The author made some good contrast of what it is like to use the skills learned in corrections with raising children. I would recommend this easy reader to others interested in getting a snap shot of how prison rules can help an individual raise children.

[Virginia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh, it was alright.
Not as funny as I had anticipated but not a total snooze fest either. Most of the parenting advice appeared to be based on positive reinforcement and common sense. Cute little comparisons to being a correctional officer versus being a parent but nothing extremely mind shattering . A quick , short read I was able to complete during my lunch.

**NOTE** I won this in exchange for a review

[Snik · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received this book for free on LibraryThing in exchange for an honest review.

Hilarious stories, practical advice, and simple principles are all part of what makes this book so awesome! Many of the concepts are also applicable for interacting with people in general, not just with children or prisoners. I would love to see this book in physical form as it would make a great baby shower gift. This is a book I will definitely enjoy re-reading many times!

[Andrea Trenary · Rating 2 out of 5]

*I received a copy of this book via NetGalley for review.

I thought this book would be a lot different then it was. I expected it to be full of amusing antidotes, make me laugh out loud and possibly be quoteable. It was none of those things. It was much more a short (49 pages) self help/how to book on parenting. I don't think I'd recommend it, nor ever purchase it.

[Sonya Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know this author and really enjoyed her book.

[Bella · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not for me. I found the prison anecdotes interesting but the correlation with parenting either not relevant (my children are young) or obvious - being polite, finding compromises etc.