ACT NATURAL - Softcover

Traig, Jennifer

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0062469819 ISBN 13: 9780062469816

Publisher: EccoPress, 2020

Synopsis

From a distinctive, inimitable voice, a wickedly funny and fascinating romp through the strange and often contradictory history of Western parenting

Why do we read our kids fairy tales about homicidal stepparents? How did helicopter parenting develop if it used to be perfectly socially acceptable to abandon your children? Why do we encourage our babies to crawl if crawling won’t help them learn to walk?

These are just some of the questions that came to Jennifer Traig when—exhausted, frazzled, and at sea after the birth of her two children—she began to interrogate the traditional parenting advice she’d been conditioned to accept at face value. The result is Act Natural, hilarious and deft dissection of the history of Western parenting, written with the signature biting wit and deep insights Traig has become known for.

Moving from ancient Rome to Puritan New England to the Dr. Spock craze of mid-century America, Traig cheerfully explores historic and present-day parenting techniques ranging from the misguided, to the nonsensical, to the truly horrifying. Be it childbirth, breastfeeding, or the ways in which we teach children how to sleep, walk, eat, and talk, she leaves no stone unturned in her quest for answers: Have our techniques actually evolved into something better? Or are we still just scrambling in the dark?

About this title

About the Author

Jennifer Traig is the author of Devil in the Details  and Well Enough Alone, and the editor of The Autobiographer’s Handbook  and Don’t Forget to Write. She holds a PhD in English from Brandeis, and lives with her family in Michigan.

From the Back Cover

From a distinctive, inimitable voice, a wickedly funny and fascinating romp through the strange and often contradictory history of Western parenting.

Why do we read our kids fairy tales about homicidal stepparents? How did helicopter parenting develop if it used to be perfectly socially acceptable to abandon your children? Why do we encourage our babies to crawl if crawling won't help them learn to walk?

These are just some of the questions that came to

Jennifer Traig when'exhausted, frazzled, and at sea after the birth of her two children'she began to interrogate the traditional parenting advice she'd been conditioned to accept at face value. The result is Act Natural, a hilarious and deft dissection of the history of Western parenting, written with the signature biting wit and deep insights Traig has become known for.

Moving from ancient Rome to Puritan New England to the Dr. Spock craze of mid-century America, Traig cheerfully explores historic and present-day parenting techniques ranging from the misguided to the nonsensical to the truly horrifying. Whether addressing childbirth, breastfeeding, or the ways in which we teach children how to sleep, walk, eat, and talk, she leaves no stone unturned in her quest for answers: Have our techniques actually evolved into something better? Or are we still just scrambling in the dark?

Edition details

• Publisher: EccoPress
• Publication date: 2020
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0062469819
• ISBN 13: 9780062469816
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352