It's an extended pointer to an interesting book: Bringing up Bébé — French Children Don’t Throw Food by Pamela Druckerman who says children raised in a firm and friendly way should bring pleasure to all — themselves, maman et papa, other parents in the playground, fellow diners in restaurants, shoppers… etc.
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The Book's getting five-star ratings on Amazon.ca and here's what one reviewer says:
"After reading this tome, I am convinced that French parents are 110% better than any and all American parents who ever oozed out of their trailer parks back home in the States. I applaud Druckerman for logically and calmly presenting her facts, which is quite uncommon for liberal journalists who normally pop and fizzle like dissolving Alka-Seltzer tablets in water whenever they try to get a coherent sentence out of their mouths. Here's what Druckerman says the French do differently than us i n b r e d Yanks, and I totally agree because she makes so much sense that she should be confirmed as a member of Obama's cabinet immediately.
1. The French allow their babies to drink wine from their baby bottles. Excellent idea that I will try, too, soon.
2. The French hate Americans in general, and that air of superiority apparently carries over into the opinions of their young babies, which automatically makes them super well-behaved and quicker at developing than American babies. Aha!
3. The French take their babies with them to the beach for long periods of laziness and relaxation instead of hard work, and that attitude to R & R apparently makes babies develop quicker! Wow!
I don't know about any other parents out there, but after the aforementioned highly sourced and well-researched presentation of facts by Druckerman, I, too, will start raising my babies in the French way!"
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Having spoent time in Europe, I tend to agree with the gist of this, though I haven't read the book. Here's a link:
i think there is a lot of merit to the idea that calm parents make for calmer babies, but come on. every kid is different.
some kids are gonna throw stuff and scream and freak out all over the place no matter who their parents are.
revjohn
Posted on: 02/07/2012 13:07
Hi MikePaterson,
My wrestling experience has taught me how to control anyone.
It only fails when the other one is a) quicker, b) stronger, c) more agile or d) has greater stamina or some combination of the four.
Of course if they don't see me coming being quicker is no advantage to them.
My grandmother had this great line, "everybody has to sleep sometime." I doubt that she was faster, stronger, more agile or of greater stamina than any of us grandkids. She always seemed to be awake though and the fact that we would eventually turn in before her and wake up long after she did meant that we were all sitting ducks at some point.
So Grandma controlled us pretty effectively.
And she wasn't French.
Grace and peace to you.
John
MikePaterson
Posted on: 02/07/2012 14:06
Sigh: I think I'd have to say that my experience sugests that all kids pick up and reflect their parents ways and values fairly effectively. They are very good at imitation and at catching the patterns, nuances and emotional reportoires of the adults around them. The especially like and respond to confident, firm, loving and respectful parents… there's security in consistency. Open, coaxing, gentle parents who try to explain the implications of unacceptable behaviour in long words and logical detail simply look indecisive, confused or even stupid to a kid who's "trying them on" in search of some boundaries.
Comments
MikePaterson
Posted on: 02/07/2012 10:41
It's an extended pointer to an interesting book: Bringing up Bébé — French Children Don’t Throw Food by Pamela Druckerman who says children raised in a firm and friendly way should bring pleasure to all — themselves, maman et papa, other parents in the playground, fellow diners in restaurants, shoppers… etc.
-----------
The Book's getting five-star ratings on Amazon.ca and here's what one reviewer says:
"After reading this tome, I am convinced that French parents are 110% better than any and all American parents who ever oozed out of their trailer parks back home in the States. I applaud Druckerman for logically and calmly presenting her facts, which is quite uncommon for liberal journalists who normally pop and fizzle like dissolving Alka-Seltzer tablets in water whenever they try to get a coherent sentence out of their mouths. Here's what Druckerman says the French do differently than us i n b r e d Yanks, and I totally agree because she makes so much sense that she should be confirmed as a member of Obama's cabinet immediately.
1. The French allow their babies to drink wine from their baby bottles. Excellent idea that I will try, too, soon.
2. The French hate Americans in general, and that air of superiority apparently carries over into the opinions of their young babies, which automatically makes them super well-behaved and quicker at developing than American babies. Aha!
3. The French take their babies with them to the beach for long periods of laziness and relaxation instead of hard work, and that attitude to R & R apparently makes babies develop quicker! Wow!
I don't know about any other parents out there, but after the aforementioned highly sourced and well-researched presentation of facts by Druckerman, I, too, will start raising my babies in the French way!"
sighsnootles
Posted on: 02/07/2012 10:55
lol!!
i think there is a lot of merit to the idea that calm parents make for calmer babies, but come on. every kid is different.
some kids are gonna throw stuff and scream and freak out all over the place no matter who their parents are.
revjohn
Posted on: 02/07/2012 13:07
Hi MikePaterson,
My wrestling experience has taught me how to control anyone.
It only fails when the other one is a) quicker, b) stronger, c) more agile or d) has greater stamina or some combination of the four.
Of course if they don't see me coming being quicker is no advantage to them.
My grandmother had this great line, "everybody has to sleep sometime." I doubt that she was faster, stronger, more agile or of greater stamina than any of us grandkids. She always seemed to be awake though and the fact that we would eventually turn in before her and wake up long after she did meant that we were all sitting ducks at some point.
So Grandma controlled us pretty effectively.
And she wasn't French.
Grace and peace to you.
John
MikePaterson
Posted on: 02/07/2012 14:06
Sigh: I think I'd have to say that my experience sugests that all kids pick up and reflect their parents ways and values fairly effectively. They are very good at imitation and at catching the patterns, nuances and emotional reportoires of the adults around them. The especially like and respond to confident, firm, loving and respectful parents… there's security in consistency. Open, coaxing, gentle parents who try to explain the implications of unacceptable behaviour in long words and logical detail simply look indecisive, confused or even stupid to a kid who's "trying them on" in search of some boundaries.