Read: Bringing Up Bébé

Bringing Up Bébé by Pamela Druckerman was the first book on parenting I have ever read cover to cover.

When American journalist Pamela Druckerman has a baby in Paris, she doesn’t aspire to become a ”French parent.” French parenting isn’t a known thing, like French fashion or French cheese. Even French parents themselves insist they aren’t doing anything special.

Yet, the French children Druckerman knows sleep through the night at two or three months old while those of her American friends take a year or more. French kids eat well-rounded meals that are more likely to include braised leeks than chicken nuggets. And while her American friends spend their visits resolving spats between their kids, her French friends sip coffee while the kids play.

The book gave me a fresh, different perspective to parenting. While the somewhat confused English-speaking world moves from one parenting philosophy-of-the-season to the next, it seems that the French has a singular universal parenting culture inspired by Rousseau and deeply rooted in science.

It also helps that the French state also provides generous support to families and women, from subsidized state-run healthcare, crèches (daycare centers) and maternelles (nursery schools) to ”perineal re-education”.

Since Afi is super busy with her thesis, I read the book first and then narrated her all the interesting points. I enjoyed the book very much, and would really recommend it to any parents of young children.