The French and British have a long and honorable history of mutually insulting each other. I actually laughed out loud (very rare for me) at the last paragraph of a review in my paper by Amanda Craig of the book French Children Don't Throw Food. The book's author is an an American married to an Englishman, who ended up in Paris. She was struck by the politeness of French kids, especially compared with the behaviour of American ones. The book goes on to describe the differences in upbringing, most of which to those of us of the older generation aren't differerences at all, as that's how we were raised anyway, but maybe not how the "modern generation" are raising their kids.
Paraphrasing, the reviewer said that the problem for those yearning to raise perfect French kids is that they grow up into French adults.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
Ah, yes. This is the same author I was talking about here. I have been thinking about it. The French, according to the author, seem to be good disciplinarians. This author thinks Americans are way too lenient and let their kids do whatever they want. What does she think about the English? My gut feeling is that they are seen as too formal with raising children, but I am not sure.
Of course, this is where I read about this book. It's pretty funny. It's not so much that French parents are disciplinarians, as they are consistent in how they raise their children differently. Being around children here in the States can oftentimes be a painful event.
I've not read the book itself, only a couple of reviews. In the review I first read the reviewer seemed a little peeved at the way the author lumped the American and British parents together as "Anglophones". Presumably, then, she saw little difference between the ways we raise our kids.
Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life.
