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.
