Recently, we were walking through one of our neighborhood parks, and we saw a little league game. Our son loves to watch people play sports, so he immediately wandered over to the fence and sat down. It didn’t matter that a playground was calling to him 40 yards away; he just wanted to watch baseball. Feeling somewhat out of place, we sat down with him to watch. The game wasn’t all that exciting, and I found myself, instead, watching the parents.

It suddenly dawned on me that, someday, that would be me sitting there, watching my kid play some sport while an overweight coach yells at him to choke up on the bat. It seems a ways off, but with leagues for children as young as 3, it’s really just around the bend. As are PTA meetings, and music lessons, and cub scouts, and church school. It’s all coming, and it’s coming faster than I am really prepared for.

I would be willing to bet that most parents aren’t prepared for just how quickly a small family can change into a social monster that sucks the life right out of family. We want our children to be involved, active, and happy. We want the friendships–both for our children and ourselves–that come from sports leagues and clubs. But deciding when to say no, is often a problem.

If your a parent who finds yourself in this situation–if you feel as though you live in your mini-van, or as though extra-curricular activities are running your family’s life, then I have the book for you. The 3 Big Questions for a Frantic Family by Patrick Lencioni is essential reading for families that feel like things have spun far out of their control.

Using the same techniques he uses as a business consultant, Lencioni shows parents how to focus on making the most important goals and values of a family into a way of life. Lencioni shows parents how to see their own family as an organizations can help them decrease the stress in what most see as the most important aspect of their life.

The book does not attempt to make family life more like business by stripping it of its warmth or emotion. Instead, the book shows how parents can isolate those important emotions and values, and harness them to make their home run more smoothly and their family life more connected. Rather than give parents a sterile how-to list, The 3 Big Questions begins with a narrative–a fable, of sorts. By telling the story of the fictional Theresa and Luke Cousins, this book puts its methods into an engaging and enlightening context. Following the narrative, the book provides parents with a more nuts-and-bolts approach to putting the three questions into effect for their own families and seven brief examples of how other families came up with and enacted their family business plan.

If you’re a mom who feels like she can never say no to another committee or a dad who feels like family time is only tucking the kids in at night, The 3 Big Questions can help you figure out how to make your family less stressful, more sane, and more enjoyable for everyone involved. This isn’t a book that tells you how to be the perfect family, but a book that can help parents discover what’s unique about their own family and how they can make that singularity into their family’s most important strength.

And here’s the best part- Wiley Books has graciously decided to give away copies of The 3 Big Questions to two of our lucky readers. Just leave a comment, and we’ll randomly choose two readers to receive a free copy of this book. Tell your friends and keep the comments coming!

by Lisa D.

Photo graciously provided by Erik van der Neut, some rights reserved