The Non-Joie of Parenting
'HARDLY a week goes by without an article or a book suggesting the newest, best — or oldest, but still best — way to raise a child. The most recent fixation is with the supposed superiority of the French.
I have been reading with great nostalgia Pamela Druckerman’s musings on the calmness of French parenting in “Bringing Up Bébé.” I too was a parent in France, having given birth to my son there some 15 years ago, after having a daughter, now 20, in England, and her sister, now 16, in Belgium.
In fact, it wasn’t until 18 months ago, when my husband and I finally returned to the States, that I first experienced motherhood in America. Until then, all I knew were the joys of European parenting as presented by Ms. Druckerman, from the way my children ate everything from coq au vin to kedgeree to our tranquil family life of weekend walks, nightly dinners and relaxing vacations.
Sadly, I now know it is easier to preach benign parenting from one’s pretty perch in Paris than it is to import those traits to the trenches of America. Believe me, I have tried and now realize why my American friends always rolled their eyes at me when I visited each summer with my tidy, tantrum-free (well, nearly) toddlers.'
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/08/opinion/sunday/the-non-joie-of-parenting-us-style.html?_r=1&hp