Advice on how to raise your wee ones
Worried about bullying? Trying to figure out how to create more "quality time" for your family? Some new books offer help.
If anyone had ever told me how challenging parenting is – or how loud and relentless a 5-year-old can be – well, my son is so cute that I still would have gone ahead and had a child anyway. Even so, I often myself in search of good advice about how to get my child to tone it down or handle a disagreement with a friend.
Two authors with new parenting books are appearing in Philadelphia in the next few days, and even if you can't attend (details here and here; one event is sold out and the other is open only to Germantown Friends School parents and students), you may find their their books worthwhile.
New York Times columnist Bruce Feiler has just written "The Secrets of Happy Families." His book contradicts some parenting notions many people have come to accept. He doesn't think the family dinner guarantees happy children, for example.
And if you've ever experienced bullying or are worried that your child will, you will want to pick up Emily Bazelon's "Sticks and Stones." The Germantown Friends graduate talks about how to change the culture of bullying and develop empathy in children.