Book Club

Koh Samuii, Thailand, 2009

There's a piece up on Babble about how Japanese school teachers let children resolve their own playground conflicts, without stepping in to say "Be nice" or "Don't hit." The article is excerpted from a new book called How Eskimos Keep Their Babies Warm: And Other Adventures in Parenting (from Argentina to Tanzania and everywhere in between.)

While some parenting "philosophies" pop up around the globe, it's the differences I find fascinating.

Will and I have nieces and nephews being raised in England and in Singapore (a former British trading post), where strict scheduling is generally valued...at least by the parents we know. Our little guy will be raised in urban Brooklyn, where, as I've mentioned, different theories abound. Then there's the whole French mother debate.

What's amazing is how militant each camp can be, saying things like, "If you don't put your baby to bed at 7 on the dot, he'll grow up to be a juvenile delinquent." Or, "Letting your baby cry it out will cost thousands in therapy later on." Well, not exactly, but you know what I mean...

I kind of prefer the patchwork approach. Guess I'll go see what I can glean from those Eskimo mamas.