With all the parenting books out there, it can be a bit daunting figuring out which books are worth your oversubscribed time. Over the next several months, I’ll provide brief reviews of some new(ish) and popular parenting books, so you can decide whether you would like to buy or--better yet!--borrow them from our growing parent resource library.
For our inaugural review, I’ve selected Simplicity Parenting by Kim John Payne (Ballantine Books, 2009). The title, of course, is alluring. “Feeling modern”, as we do (and as members of nearly every generation for the past five or so hundred years have done), typically entails the sense that the world has grown more complex than a posited simpler past. In our case, that sensation is ramified by the acceleration of technological development; the niftiest iPhone of five years ago is already an antique, and our children will likely look at our lingering CD collections and wonder if they should be played on a Victrola. Simplicity Parenting, rooted in the principles of Waldorf education, suggests that we declutter our children’s lives, literally and figuratively, thereby reducing stress reactions (what Payne more evocatively terms “soul fevers”) in our children.
Much of what Payne suggests we do with our children seems to be common sense. “Simplicity” should extend to our children’s environments (limiting the number of toys in the house, reducing exposure to media) and their schedules (a “rhythm” of daily life that grants familiarity, but still allows for plenty of unstructured free time). At times, Payne’s “simplified” vision may seem too radical for some households; not many households will wish to do away with their televisions entirely. (Frankly, I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t see another movie for, oh, ten years if I didn’t have a TV and Netflix.) However, nearly all of Payne’s suggestions, perhaps adopted in a modified form, seem likely to help children feel a little less of the burden of the adult world and a bit better able to find their footing, now that their paths have been made clearer.
Simplicity Parenting is available for borrowing in the Parent Resource Library.
