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One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting
Penguin Press
March 2012
On Sale: February 21, 2012
304 pages
ISBN: 1594203334
EAN: 9781594203336
Kindle: B005I4JG80
Hardcover / e-Book
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Non-Fiction | Self-Help
The secret behind France's astonishingly well-behaved children. When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in
Paris, she doesn't aspire to become a "French parent."
French parenting isn't a known thing, like French fashion or
French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they
aren't doing anything special. Yet, the French children Druckerman knows sleep through the
night at two or three months old while those of her American
friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded
meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than
chicken nuggets. And while her American friends spend their
visits resolving spats between their kids, her French
friends sip coffee while the kids play. Motherhood itself is a whole different experience in France.
There's no role model, as there is in America, for the
harried new mom with no life of her own. French mothers
assume that even good parents aren't at the constant service
of their children and that there's no need to feel guilty
about this. They have an easy, calm authority with their
kids that Druckerman can only envy. Of course, French parenting wouldn't be worth talking about
if it produced robotic, joyless children. In fact, French
kids are just as boisterous, curious, and creative as
Americans. They're just far better behaved and more in
command of themselves. While some American toddlers are
getting Mandarin tutors and preliteracy training, French
kids are- by design-toddling around and discovering the
world at their own pace. With a notebook stashed in her diaper bag, Druckerman-a
former reporter for The Wall Street Journal-sets out to
learn the secrets to raising a society of good little
sleepers, gourmet eaters, and reasonably relaxed parents.
She discovers that French parents are extremely strict about
some things and strikingly permissive about others. And she
realizes that to be a different kind of parent, you don't
just need a different parenting philosophy. You need a very
different view of what a child actually is. While finding her own firm non, Druckerman discovers
that children-including her own-are capable of feats she'd
never imagined.
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