Decision making puts mindfulness to work. Mindfulness is not a paralysis by analysis. Parents will learn to apply a simple "SAT first, then ACT" formula that emphasizes the relationship between mind and behavior:

SAT first, then ACT

SAT:
Stop And Think first, then

ACT:
ACCEPT current reality,
Reaffirm where you CHOOSE to go, and
TAKE action to get there

At the heart of mindfulness is decision making. Basic Parenting is designed not to answer all the questions parents might have but to provide the information and tools parents will need to make their own decisions and create their own successful approach to raising their children.

Principles and skills are both important in effective decision making. Action without principles can become micromanagement in which a different formula has to be created for each different situation. Principles without action can drift into the lofty heights of intellectualism unconnected to the realities of the world below. Taken together, principles and skills form a powerful union of decision-making tools. Basic Parenting skills provide parents with a comprehensive set of alternative responses to children while principles provide the foundations for wisdom that makes effective choices possible.