The Idle Parent: Why Laid-Back Parents Raise Happier and Healthier Kids - Softcover

Hodgkinson, Tom

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1585428000 ISBN 13: 9781585428007

Publisher: Tarcherperigee, 2010

Synopsis

This wise and funny book presents a revolutionary yet highly practical approach to childcare: leave them alone.

"The Idle Parent came as a huge relief to the whole family. Suddenly, it was okay to leave the kids to sort it out among themselves. Suddenly, it was okay to be responsibly lazy. This is the most counterintuitive but most helpful and consoling child-raising manual I've yet read."--Alain de Botton, author of The Pleasures and Sorrows of Work and The Consolations of Philosophy

"The most easy-to-follow-without-being-made-to-feel-inadequate parenting manifesto ever written . . . A godsend to parents."--The Sunday Times

"Add liberal doses of music, jovial company and deep woods to play in--all central to the idle, not to say Taoist, life--and you have a recipe for bright, happy people with need of neither television nor shrink. Who could ask for more?"--The Evening Standard

In The Idle Parent, the author of The Freedom Manifesto and How to Be Idle applies his trademark left-of-center theories of idleness to what can be one of the thorniest aspects of adult life: parenting.

Many parents today spend a whole lot of time worrying and wondering--frantically "helicoptering" over their children with the hope that they might somehow keep (or make?) them flawless. But where is this approach to childcare getting us? According to Hodgkinson, in our quest to give our kids everything, we fail to give them the two things they need most: the space and time to grow up self-reliant, confident, happy, and free. In this smart and hilarious book, Hodgkinson urges parents to stop worrying and instead start nurturing the natural instincts toward creativity and independence that are found in every child. And the great irony: in doing so, we will find ourselves becoming happier and better parents.

About this title

Review:

"The most counterintuitive but most helpful and consoling child-raising manual I've yet read."
--Alain de Botton, The Pleasures and Sorrow of Work

"The most easy-to-follow-without-being-made-to-feel-inadequate parenting manifesto ever written. Hodgkinson is right on almost everything"
--The Sunday Times

"Add liberal doses of music, jovial company and deep woods to play in--all central to idle, not to say Taoist, life--and you have a recipes for bright, happy people who with need of neither television nor shrink. Who could ask for more?"
--The Evening Standard

"If you wait long enough, you will find a parenting book that endorses your style of mothering. Mine was just published ... the book that argues why laid-back parents raise healthier and happier kids. Appropriately titled, The Idle Parent is a refreshing change to most of the parenting books on the market."
--Beliefnet

"Wise, funny, practical and personal, The Idle Parent puts the fun back into parenting."
--Oliver James

From the Back Cover:

Modern life is wrecking childhood.
Why can't we just leave our kids alone?

If you've ever wondered why so many of today's children are unhappy, spoilt, stressed and selfish, then the answers and the remedy are to be found in The Idle Parent.

Tom Hodgkinson wants us to leave our kids be, to give them the space and time to grow into self-reliant, confident, inquisitive, happy and free people. Full of practical tips of what to do and (more importantly) what not to do, Tom will not only help your kids be happier, but also help you, their parents, live happier and more fulfilled lives.

'Wise, practical, funny, personal, it will make you a much better parent' Oliver James

'An inspiring book, genuinely subversive. Time to put away "silly adult things" and embrace childhood in all its messy glory' London Lite

'A recipe for bright, happy people with need of neither television nor shrink. Who could ask for more?' Evening Standard

'An original, thought-provoking book' Toby Young, Mail on Sunday

About this edition

• Publisher: Tarcherperigee
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1585428000
• ISBN 13: 9781585428007
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 272