Bringing Up Bebe- Pamela Druckerman

I was skimming through our new acquisitions in the library catalog today and came across a few books I'm very excited about getting my hands on. One is Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman. My brief stint serving as a Peace Corps volunteer in the Philippines opened my eyes to how indulgent American parents can be. Seeing 5 year-olds who were fully responsible for washing their own clothes and helping with chores around the house and working in a high school in which there is no janitorial staff, all of the students are responsible for getting to class early and staying late in order to sweep and clean their classrooms, made me realize how we may have missed the mark here in the U.S. Teaching such well behaved and creative students showed me that it's not an abundance of toys, lessons or ball practices that make a difference in a child's life, it's how he or she is loved and how they are taught at home that produces strong character and productive adults. I appreciated Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother because of Amy Chua's refusal to accept less than the best from her children, and I hope that Druckerman's book lends equal insight into an alternative way to raising children. I don't have any children yet, so I'm taking all the advice I can get! Below is a link to the Publisher's Weekly review. The book is due out in February.

http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-59420-333-6