Mommy's Time Out Magazine February 2019 | Page 8

MY THOUGHTS ON...

How to Raise an adult

by Julie Lythcott-Haims

If you think you might be overparenting or have overparented, or if you are an unapologetic (#sorrynotsorry) helicopter Mom, this book has something for you. Lythcott-Haims takes research plus her experience as a mom and Dean of Freshmen and Undergraduate Advising at Stanford and blends it all together for a good, hard look at what overparenting does to our children (who will one day be adults and need to "adult") and society. As an adult child who was overparented and in turn overparented my seven-year-old and is now scrambling for him to "catch up" in independence to his five-year-old sister, this book alternately had me offended and thinking that what Lythcott-Haims was saying was brilliant. She even expressed surprise by the list of what another author said children should be able to do by specific ages, which made her seem a little more "human". This is a great read or listen, but is similar to The Gift of Failure. If you read one parenting book this year, either one would be an excellent choice. Happy reading - and parenting!

with Heather Caserta

MOMMY'S TIME OUT

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