Ask HN: I just became a father, what is the only book I should read? |
Ask HN: I just became a father, what is the only book I should read? |
There are two kinds of books. One kind urges you to be more permissive; the other kind urges you to be more strict.
In Zion National Park, there's a trail called Angel's Landing. You wind up climbing this ridge, with a 1000-foot dropoff on one side, and a 500-foot dropoff on the other side. Parenting is like that. There's a cliff on the side of being too permissive. You read a book warning you about that. So you back well away from that cliff. But there's a cliff on the other side, too, and you become to strict by trying to not be too permissive.
Worse, if your natural bent (or upbringing, or whatever) is toward being too strict, then a book that warns about being too permissive resonates more with you than one that warns about being too strict, even though the second kind is the one that you really need to hear.
So, yeah. Beware becoming a parent of only one book.
[0] https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1594745978/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b...
Sometimes the advice is really good, other times it's repetitive, often I don't even read it. But I like getting a reminder each day that I should be present with my kids, work can wait, I should put down my phone and just be with my kids and let them have all of my attention.
Raising Our Children, Raising Ourselves by Naomi Aldort, $14 on Amazon.