Book excerpt: Reclaim Your Family with Your Own Family Constitution Both manifesto and handbook, DESPERATELY SEEKING PARENTS: Why Your Child Needs a Parent in Charge and How to Become One calls all parents to reclaim their position of authority in the home. Emphasizing that todays children need (and ultimately want) parents to assert their sovereignty and control in a loving and consistent manner, Dr. Paterno illustrates how to become a Parent in Charge by using simple, proven methods. The first parenting book to utilize the Family Constitution, Dr. Paterno explicitly champions parents rights, simplifies parental expectations and rewards children can earn, and rejects the current trend of reducing expectations because of so-called diseases, disorders, and disabilities. Provocative, but proven and practical, Dr. Paterno will help you reclaim your family by becoming the vital, valid source of love and authority you were meant to be for your children. Praise for DESPERATELY SEEKING PARENTS Take heed, you and your child are in good hands with the advice that rests between the pages of this wonderful book. Thank the good Lord that there is a writer with the scholarship and good sense to write a book that parents can safely rely on. David Stein, Ph.D., author of Unraveling the ADD/ADHD Fiasco and Ritalin is Not the Answer If every parent read this book and incorporated Dr. Paternos principles and techniques, every pediatricians office would see far fewer children with behavior problems. Colette Sabbagh, M.D., Pediatrician, Bangor, Maine Dr. Paterno has managed to squeeze 3,000 years of common sense and experience, a command of child development and behavioral theory, tons of wit and humor, and dozens of practical solutions into this thoroughly readable parenting guide. Toby Tyler Watson, Psy.D., Executive Director, International Center for the Study of Psychiatry & Psychology