Parenting with Love and Logic

In my attempt to figure out how to handle some of my kids' less desirable behavior, I checked out a book from the library with authors from the Love and Logic Institute. I heard about them from my sister--they have workshops, books, and dvds to teach a method for parents and other adults (like teachers) to take back control from children, while at the same time promoting children's agency, responsibility, and ability to think for themselves. Over the last couple of day, I read through this book which first gives a basic overview of their philosophy and then gives examples to deal with specific kinds of problems. Like a lot of parenting books, it was a bit fluffy and the parent-child scenarios could be cheesy, but I think that their basic message is useful and I want to work to implement some parts of it.

The most important part of their philosophy centers around the idea of giving children choices and then letting them struggle with the consequences of their decisions. In an introductory chapter, they discuss two types of parents:
1. Helicopter parents whose lives revolve around their children, who hover over and rescue their children whenever trouble arises. Examples of this type of behavior include bringing their lunches and other forgotten items to them at school, protecting them from all unpleasantness, etc.
2. Control parents: These are the kinds of parents who make the children's every decision for

Ok, this draft has been sitting here a while. So just a few more thoughts:
--seemed more appropriate for older kids, not my 2 year old. I can't ask my 2-year old to walk outside the car for a couple of blocks when he and his sister are yelling at each other
--Christian beliefs pervade the book, moralizing that children who haven't learned responsibility are "going to be a certain way" so you have to look past all that, distill to "the program"

Overall, though, I feel the need to give my kids agency. It's hard to relinquish control for me, but I don't want to be one of those parents who are very controlling of their teen-agers. I've seen others like this, and I felt it was one of the things my parents could have done better as well.