French Parents are Not Superior. But They Do Have an Awful Lot Right. (“Bringing Up Bebe” Book Review, Part I)
I remember being told that making assumptions got you into trouble. (Remember that old saw: When you ASSUME you make an ASS out of YOU and ME, which is one of those plays on words that never felt terribly clever to me.) When I became a parent, though, I made a whole mess of assumptions. I assumed my babies would eat and sleep well; I assumed they’d be fine with the caregivers I chose for them; I assumed that they (probably) wouldn’t stick their fingers into electrical sockets and would eventually be able to eat a whole banana without having …Keep Reading
Book Giveaway! Debbie Koenig’s “Parents Need to Eat, Too”
A few weeks ago, my friend Sally and I were emailing about dinner ideas; she’d invited us to her house for a causal family dinner, and wondered what might be good for her to make, and for me to bring to help out. She wanted to make pulled pork in her slow cooker, at which suggestion my mouth immediately commenced watering. But what about the kids? Between my two and her two, we have varying levels of picky/mercurial. Pulled pork? Would they go for it, in the absence of a fall-back serving of mac-and-cheese or plain pasta or hot dogs? …Keep Reading
Vassar College Makes Huge Acceptance-Letter Screw-Up, Hurts Students’ Feelings. But Should Their Parents Try to Fix It?
A long time ago (let’s call it 1984 for sake of argument, because that’s when it was), when high school students received college acceptances or rejections in the mail (you know, with envelopes and stuff) exclusively, I got an acceptance to the school I really, really wanted to attend. When I’d first applied, I hadn’t been all that convinced, but by the time the envelope was in my hands, I was sure. I opened it and was ecstatic. Then I read the part about the financial aid package, which was a big fat zero, and my elation deflated. It made …Keep Reading
