French Children Don't Throw Food

French parents manage to raise happy, polite, obedient children without sacrificing their own adult lives. Why, unlike us, don’t the French spend part of the night trying to lull their little ones to sleep? Why don’t their children demand constant attention? Why don’t they interfere when adults talk, or throw tantrums in toy stores? Why do they behave calmly in restaurants, eat adult food, and are able—without scandal—to listen to their parents’ “no”? French women adore their children, but they don’t let them ruin their figure, career, and social life. Even with babies they look stylish and sexy. How do they manage that?

American journalist Pamela Druckerman, living in Paris with her English husband and three children, investigated the phenomenon of French parenting. She wrote a very personal, lively, humorous—and at the same time practical—book that reveals the secrets of French families whose children sleep well, eat well, and don’t wear out their parents.