Rethinking Achievement Culture
A Discussion of the Risks of Achievement Culture in Never Enough by Jennifer Breheny Wallace
Things I’m reading
Choosing Career Paths: Career and Family by Claudia Goldin
The book discusses the challenges modern women face in the career market, the historical ways women have tackled these challenges, and the root causes of the wage gap. (In brief, women tend to have more responsibilities at home.)
I appreciated that this book focused on the practical realities of what happens to parents’ working lives once they have kids. It doesn’t point fingers or blame anyone. Rather, it explains that couples are rational actors making choices based on the options in front of them. The book also describes characteristics of careers that are more likely to enable (and less likely to penalize) a good family-career balance.
Feeding French: Takeaways from French Kids Eat Everything by Karen Le Billon
Karen Le Billon describes her family’s move to France and explains why French children are so well behaved at restaurants and eat whatever is put on their plates. She sets out ten French food rules, which I reduce to four basic takeaways: (1) A parent’s job is to teach the child to appreciate food; (2) Food is reserved for sit-down social experiences; (3) Everyone eats the same meal; (4) Keep food emotionally neutral (don’t use it as a reward or punishment). I also discuss our own family’s attempts to implement some of these rules, and our struggles.
When Your Toddler Won’t Eat Dinner – Food Takeaways from Cribsheet by Emily Oster
Sometimes it feels like no matter what you try, your toddler won’t eat dinner . . . Below is an in-depth review of toddler food strategies that Emily Oster discusses in her book Cribsheet.
Why Weight Matters in Childhood – Takeaways from Magic Pill by Johann Hari
Magic Pill explores the reasons so many people struggle to lose weight in a traditional way. Many people are essentially trapped at an unhealthy BMI by a combination of biology, psychology, and their established eating habits. I found this discussion very interesting as there are a number of lessons applicable to raising kids, from avoiding teaching eating as a coping mechanism to understanding the role of processed food, etc.
Tips from the Processed Food Industry – Takeaways from Salt Sugar Fat by Michael Moss
Takeaways on how the food industry lures in kids, so that you can use their tricks for good. This book was like taking a walk back through the 90s. Remember the Lunchables craze? Frosted Mini Wheats? Capri Sun, made with 100% real juice? This book takes the reader through many of these products from the business perspective. The downside of this book: it will leave you skeptical about buying anything processed, including food that is supposedly healthy.
Developing Brains: Takeaways from The Whole Brain Child by Daniel J. Siegel, M.D., and Tina Payne Bryson, Ph.D.
The express goal of The Whole Brain Child is to teach parents strategies for better integrating a child’s brain. However, I think it is better described as a self-help book for parents: how to more skillfully handle your child on a day-to-day basis.
Parenting Successful Kids – Takeaways from The Triple Package by Amy Chua and Jed Rubenfeld
For children of immigrants, assimilation into American culture has been associated with worse outcomes. What are these parents doing differently? Here are my practical takeaways for parents.
Yellow Flag for Social Emotional Learning – Takeaways from Bad Therapy by Abigail Shrier
This book challenged my initial belief that emotional social learning taught in schools was probably harmless and likely beneficial. One of my primary takeaways from Bad Therapy was that some techniques that are currently in-vogue for parents and teachers to teach emotional skills (i.e., “social emotional learning”) are counterproductive.