Tiger Mother Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother (available on Amazon.cn here), has had plenty of time in the spotlight since she was featured in the Wall Street Journal (our coverage here and here). But most recently, parents have turned to France for parenting tips.
In her book Bringing up Bébé (available on Amazon.com hereand a Wall Street Journal review here),former Wall Street Journal reporter Pamela Druckerman writes about her experience living in France as a mother. As an American, she is impressed with the use of straight-forward techniques used by French parents and commends them for raising polite, well-behaved children.
Approaches she highlights include:
– Fixed meal times, which means no unplanned snacking
– Most French mothers did not breast feed
– Saying “no,” and not giving in to a child’s demands
But a Yahoo article also reminds us that we shouldn’t jump to adopting a French way of parenting. According to the poll they quote: “84 percent of French parents admit to slapping or spanking their child” – a practice that is absolutely taboo in the US.
What do you think of the French style of parenting?
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Photo by Julie70 of Flickr.