The excerpt describes the moment in which Druckerman realized that French kids are much better behaved than American kids and then set out to discover why that is the case.
Not surprisingly, American parents went nuts about the story.
Some, presumably, read it as a "how to" manual. Others, presumably, read it as criticism.
Either way, the story struck a nerve.
And what were Druckerman's conclusions?
Why are French parents better than American parents at raising well-behaved children?
Here are two key points:
First, French parents aren't as obsessed with making sure their kids are in training to become CEOs, world-famous composers, professional athletes, and Senators from the moment they emerge from the womb. French parents do make sure their kids do some "activities," but they don't schedule every moment as training for some specific future achievement. Rather they give the kids some time to learn how to amuse themselves.
Second, and more importantly, French parents teach their kids to wait. Specifically, they teach them to defer gratification--to wait until later to eat candy, to sleep through the night, to wait a few moments until their parents have stopped speaking before interrupting them, and so on. American, parents, meanwhile, want to encourage every blurt or impulse as an example of self-expression and are too wimpy to teach their kids how to be patient.
1 comment:
Sounds about right to me.
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