French Children Don't Throw Food: The hilarious NO. 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER changing parents’ lives

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By the end of our ruined beach holiday, I’ve decided to figure out what French parents are doing differently. I'm sure this book is a wild success in France, but I had to laugh at this book's praise on the back cover by the author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother and the author of French Women Don't Get Fat.

First, starting in the 1980s, there was a mass of data and public rhetoric saying that poor kids fall behind in school because they don’t get enough stimulation, especially in the early years. And this doesn't even include the differences in sleeping (through the night); early and successful toileting. Bad temper is not tolerated: Crawford claims the “terrible twos” do not exist as a concept in France because of the French mother’s view that her word is law. I will say this: I do not think that there will be a single open minded mother that will not be affected by this book.Ein Kollege hat mir schon vor einiger Zeit dieses Buch wärmstens empfohlen, es sei DER Erziehungsratgeber für werdende Eltern und er schwört auf die Erziehungstipps aus Paris. No magic bullet here, folks, because if I had found it I may have put it through my brain about halfway through this book. Discipline, I soon realize, is a narrow, seldom-used term that refers to punishment, whereas éducation (which has nothing to do with school) is something they imagine themselves to be doing all the time. The French are rightly amazed at what spoilt brats some countries manage to raise (though the use of the French labelling of all English speakers as Anglo-Saxon as assuming we are the same is rather frustrating). She also published Lust In Translation: Infidelity from Tokyo to Tennessee in 2007 with Penguin Group that examined the nature of marital infidelity.

That the French also believe this is no surprise, but neither is it proof that their practices are superior. Instead, the intro had ended and then she suddenly began this slow navel-gazing passage about her layoff and boyfriend/husband. What struck me in England was how extremely patient and gentle English mothers were with their children compared with French parents," she said.

And what the author describes as the "French" method of parenting is pretty much word for word how I always thought I would be as a parent, particularly when discussing the magic of the word "no. Of course, French parenting wouldn't be worth talking about if it produced robotic, joyless children. They are much less likely to shout 'stop' at their children and more likely to be calm and ask, 'why did you do that?

As she emphasizes, she is American; she does not live in France because of francophilia; she does not imagine that she will stay or live in France. It was this aspect of the book - well, the book's subject, French culture, in fairness to the author - which got me worried. If it is safe to assume that an American journalist married to a European journalist and living in Paris while writing her book on comparative cultural attitudes toward marital infidelity would lean to the left of the political center then you would not be surprised to find her writing a book that celebrates the parenting styles of the the French while eschewing those of Americans. Manners are paramount: even tinies are expected to greet their elders with a polite bonjour and kiss on the cheeks.In France a child is rarely considered an equal, but a small human being ready to be formatted, partly by its parents but mostly by the state education system. Whether they are happy, have friends or are kind is an added bonus in the way we educate our children.