Raising the perfect child . . . it’s our dream as parents. But the reality is: the perfect child doesn’t exist. Yet parents everywhere are putting the full-court press on their kids to be perfect, fixating on raising them to be smarter, faster, more successful, and more popular than their peers. And that’s making today’s parents and their children crazy.
In Untying Parent Anxiety Raising the perfect child . . . it’s our dream as parents. But the reality is: the perfect child doesn’t exist. Yet parents everywhere are putting the full-court press on their kids to be perfect, fixating on raising them to be smarter, faster, more successful, and more popular than their peers. And that’s making today’s parents and their children crazy. In Untying Parent Anxiety, nationally syndicated humor columnist and author Lisa Sugarman reminds us that our kids aren’t supposed to be perfect. (And neither are we.) They’re going to screw up, make mistakes, and lose their way. And as soon as we embrace the idea that parenthood is not a straight line, we unlock everyone’s full potential. Drawing on her life as the perfectly imperfect mother of two daughters and more than a decade of working in the school system, Sugarman deconstructs some of the biggest myths facing parents and offers advice and strategies to help soothe anxious moms and dads. Cycling through everything from friend drama and separation anxiety to playing nice and emotional development, Untying Parent Anxiety is a funny but honest journey through the most common stages of raising kids that reinforces that parenthood is a beautiful, imperfect work in progress, nationally syndicated humor columnist and author Lisa Sugarman reminds us that our kids aren’t supposed to be perfect. (And neither are we.) They’re going to screw up, make mistakes, and lose their way. And as soon as we embrace the idea that parenthood is not a straight line, we unlock everyone’s full potential.
Drawing on her life as the perfectly imperfect mother of two daughters and more than a decade of working in the school system, Sugarman deconstructs some of the biggest myths facing parents and offers advice and strategies to help soothe anxious moms and dads. Cycling through everything from friend drama and separation anxiety to playing nice and emotional development, Untying Parent Anxiety is a funny but honest journey through the most common stages of raising kids that reinforces that parenthood is a beautiful, imperfect work in progress.
“Lisa Sugarman has finally put out to the universe what every parent needs to hear but what every teacher and pediatrician can’t get away with saying. Kids need to be kids above all. Lisa does a stellar job highlighting how to not just let a kid be a kid but explains how parents can swiftly and responsibly teach our children how to live a balanced, responsible, and happy life full of it all chores, electronics, social media and more! This is a must read if you really want to learn the truth about not just being a good parent but a happy one too!”—Debra Fox Gansenberg, MSW, LICSW, Co-Founder and Director of School Services, New Beginnings Counseling Service, P.C., mom of three