[jimbo123]

[rusty schucklefurd]

My first reaction after reading the title was to feel insulted as an American. But then I actually read the article. I think it is quite good with some excellent points being made, such as: “Could it be that teaching children how to delay gratification—as middle-class French parents do—actually makes them calmer and more resilient? Might this partly explain why middle-class American kids, who are in general more used to getting what they want right away, so often fall apart under stress?”She also discusses the importance of the parent being in control instead of the child.

[Yaelle]

I didn’t read the article but I’ve lived and patented in francophone Europe. The French do not like raising the kids from the heart. From the start they put them in uncomfortable clothes and they looked down on me,a stay at home mom, as being un esclave a mon bebe. (slave to my baby). Their kids either had nannies or were in creches (daycare). I prefer a messy, real, strong willed American child to perfect obedience and total neurosis.

[Twotone]

A friend traveled to Mexico some years ago & had the same impression of children there. They were quiet & well-behaved, & if mom had to say something it was done in a calm manner.

It just comes down to the parent understanding that they are the one in charge. what I’ve seen too often is the American parent wants to be the child’s friend. In other words, no one is the adult.