We're going to France...
Well, not really...but after reading this book, I kind of just want to pick up my family and move to France though.
I spent a month there when I was 16, touring the whole northern part of France, it was an amazing experience! I also stayed with a host family for a week, loved them:)
Bringing up Bébé was written by an American mom, Pamela Druckerman, living in France. She noticed some differences in their parenting verses ours and decided to research and write about them.
For example, it's normal for most babies to be "doing their nights" by the age of 3 months, where here it's closer to 6-9...the reasoning is so simple too! They just don't respond as quickly to their crying babies, but if you ask them about "crying it out," they don't understand what that means, because it never really comes to that.
Or their meal schedule. Basically they eat at 8:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m., 4:00 p.m. (snack), and 8:00 p.m. Four times a day, that's it. "You'll never catch a Parisian mother with a Ziploc bag of Cheerios, a snack that clutters the purse of every American toddler's mom." They serve all meals in courses, not complicated courses, but they serve veggies first, and since they're not snacking all the time, they eat them because they're hungry!
I've been trying this with my kids and it actually works:) I haven't been giving them as many snacks and they are actually hungry to eat whatever is put in front of them, so perfect!
Another thing about Parisian parents, they're just not as stressed, from pregnancy to parenthood. No reading every single parenting magazine and book you can get your hands on, just a layed back, no big deal style.
Two words, free childcare. That's all that needs to be said about that.
Obviously, there a few things that I would do differently. They don't usually breastfeed for very long. And their schooling is a bit detached and cold...but it would still be awesome to live there...a girl can dream, c'est la vie.
It's a fun, interesting book on parenting, that I had a hard time putting down. Check it out:)
1 comment:
I read it, too! Very interesting. Though I probably should read it again, since I was pregnant the first time around. :)
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