On the Bookshelf

Bringing Up Bebe - One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting. 

For my last birthday, my dearest friend Jen gave me this book as a gift.  Thank you Jen!  Over the New Year's weekend I devoured it.  I really mean it, I had a hard time putting it down.  It was insightful, humorous, and entertaining.  I recommend this book for anyone, but in particular those with young children or those embarking on parenthood.  I plan to gift this book to a friend who is recently pregnant.  Here are some of the observations and tips that I took away from this book.  (1) Engage in a proper meal time with your kids and expect table manners.  French children don't throw food because they have been expected to eat at the table as respectable humans since they could sit up on their own.  (2) French babies sleep through the night (typically by three months) because French parents employ "the pause."  French parents don't jump at every noise their baby makes, they pause first to really listen to whether their baby really needs them.  Babies sometimes just make noise, and that is okay.  French babies seem to learn how to self-sooth much sooner than American counterparts.  I hope to employ this when our next baby (whenever that may be) arrives.  (3) Teach your kids to be patient by making them wait.  This walks hand in hand with "the pause."  (4) Treat your kids as human. In other words, embrace the fact that kids have their own unique personalities, interests, like/dislikes, rather than trying to always make them conform.  (5) The mass majority of French moms work outside the home (well over 80%).  We Americans (I included) often feel guilty about working while also being a mom.  In France, it appears (at least from the author's perspective) that French women don't harbor this guilt.  Work is an important part of a woman's life, an expectation in France, so there is no reason to feel guilty about it.  I need to work on this perspective!  (6) Remember to embrace your femininity as a woman and as a wife after becoming a mom.  There is great emphasis in French culture for women to regain their figure shortly after birth and to remember your role as a wife.  (7) Let your kids play.  Don't over schedule them.  Don't rush childhood.  Let them explore.