MSI Press Blog

  This week's book back story features I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them by Franki Bagdade . From the author --  I can't spell. Truly, I'm terrible at it. When I got my first job, teaching children with learning disabilities in a private elementary school they sent me for specialized training in phonics, a program called Orton Gillingham created for those who struggle with traditional ways of learning to read. It was eye-opening. For the first time, I understood the spelling patterns and realized there was something I could rely on besides, just memorization when trying to spell all of those darn words. For the first time in my life, I started to enjoy Wheel of Fortune. I knew which letter Vanna White was gonna unveil before she turned around those famous white cubes. Fast forward a few years later into my teaching career which was also a few years of intense exposure to many misspelled Words, that’s what happens when you teach students who also struggle wit...

  Congratulations to Franki Bagdade for continuing wonderful reviews of her book, I Love My Children, But I Don't Always Like Them .  As a parent of two kids and also a psychologist, I have read MANY books on parenting over the years and this one is by far the absolute BEST one I have encountered. It is the perfect length - parents do not have time to read, and this one is manageable, easy to wade through and a pleasure to read. I Love My Kids But I Don't Always Like Them is a brilliant guide to parenting ALL types of children, including our more difficult ones.  Sharp, insightful and solidly based in psychological science, this book is chock full of easy-to-use practical advice, with illustrative, highly relatable and colorful examples. Reading it feels like you are sitting down over coffee with the author herself or a fellow mom (a really smart one!) Franki Bagdade really understands children AND really understands parents, helping bridge the divide between the tw...

  excerpt from   I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them  by Franki Bagdade  Expectations in the Bagdade Family  My kids need sleep! All kids do, of course, but mine take it to the next level. This was awesome when they were little because most evenings, after they were all tucked in, I could enjoy alone time with my husband. I might be going out on a limb here, but I think he’ll agree. (Or completely ignore my husband and watch the newest romantic comedy alone!)  Now, our oldest still needs more sleep than the younger two. She could probably win an Olympic sleeping competition. This proficiency made her the world’s best baby! It’s become a little trickier as she gets older and wants to stay out late and have a social life. It’s especially tricky when she wants to stay up extra late to watch Vampire Diaries because that usually means that the next day (and maybe the one after that, too) we all have to deal with her dedicated crankiness or mood...

  excerpt from I Love My Kids, But I Don't Always Like Them by Franki Bagdade Introduction              T he sound of your newborn baby crying for the first-time echoes in your brain forever. During the many months leading up to the birth, you dreamt of who that boy or girl would be, what they would look like and how it would feel when they became part of your family. Then suddenly, in a one moment frozen in time, that vision became real and alive, in the form of a helpless smush of a baby . “I got this.” I was confident, and maybe even a little bit obnoxious, as a second-time mom. My almost two-year-old was on a tight sleep schedule, slept through the night consistently and was a pleasure. I told anyone who would listen, quite smugly I might add, that my first child gladly played by herself, while I happily scrolled through this new phenomenon called Facebook , answered emails, talked on the phone and read books. In fact, I often felt guilty c...