Book excerpt: An indispensable guide to more peaceful and enjoyable parenting 'This isn't a parenting advice book, it's a book about you. The words you read in this book, however, will have a far greater impact on your children, than those contained in any parenting book you could read (and I count my own in that too).' How many times have you asked yourself 'what's wrong with me? Why can't I stay calm?'. So many of us would love to follow a gentler, more positive style of parenting, but we don't think we're cut out for it, because we aren't naturally calm. We feel that there is something wrong with us, that we're not good enough. We believe we are failing our children by not controlling our own emotions adequately. What we don't realise is that this describes almost every parent there ever was - and ever will be. In her trademark gentle, supportive and reassuring style, bestselling author Sarah Ockwell-Smith shows that while we all lose it at times, everyone can become a calmer parent. Based on her many years' experience working with parents, Sarah provides research, advice and practical exercises that will set you on the path to calmer parenting that will benefit both you and your child. Covering everything from the impact of your own upbringing on your parenting style to work and home life balance and letting go of the quest for perfection to ensuring your own basic needs are met, How to Be a Calm Parent is for any parent who knows that they need to be calmer to raise well adjusted, happy children, but struggles with their own emotions and stress levels.