Story Archives of 'parents'

Picture books have come a long way since the illustrated Aesop’s Fables. Sure, kids still read about The Tortoise and the Hare and The Boy Who Cried Wolf, but the moral tales of yesteryear have given way to a new breed of bedtime stories.

Popular children’s books like Olivia by Ian falconer and Constance and Tiny by Pierre Le Gall depict a world with few rules, no consequences, and lots of childish fits. Unlike the frazzled parents and minders from classics like Curious George and Where The Wild Things Are, many of today’s picture book parents don’t punish their children. They simply respond to bad behavior with a hug and a beleaguered “I love you.”

Daniel Zalewski noticed the trend while picking out books for his own kids. He’s features editor for The New Yorker, where he wrote about the rise of unruly children in picture books.

The New Yorker: The Defiant Ones

(Photo by pawpaw67 via Flickr/Creative Commons)

Goodbye, playtime. Reading and math training have replaced finger painting in preschools. Success is the primary subject for kids these days. A four billion dollar a year tutoring industry feeds the expectation that American kids become straight-A students, concert pianists, Olympic soccer players, and fluent in Mandarin - all by the age of 18. And, if they aren’t, they won’t get into college, find a decent job, they’ll end up living at home - it all spirals down from there.

At least, that’s the way a lot of parents see it. The competitive frenzy leaves kids scheduled to the max with activities, parents hovering over homework, and kids pressured to be all-around super stars. But we all know we can’t win at everything, all the time. So, how do we teach our children in this culture of winners that it is OK to lose? How do we protect their fragile egos when they do lose? And, is it possible that maybe losing isn’t so bad after all?

These are some questions writer Sarah Baker was pondering. She’s a mother of two and will help us fill out the picture. We're also joined by Richard Ginsburg, psychologist and co-author of the book Whose Game Is It Anyway?

(Photo by tree & j hensdill)

You don't have to be a social scientist to see that the traditional American family is changing, and motherhood is changing right along with it. More and more women are choosing to have children without partners. The growth of groups like Single Mothers By Choice and the proliferation of books like Choosing Single Motherhood and Knock Yourself Up point to a generation of women who are choosing a new path. Technology, money and often the loud ticking of a biological clock is making single motherhood a good option for some women. Word of Mouth host Virginia Prescott talks about this trend with Jean Railla, who wrote about it in the parenting magazine Babble. Her article is called Fatherless Brooklyn: Why Today's Women are Choosing to have Babies Alone.

Obviously, not all single mothers choose to raise their kids on their own, and when very young women -- like teenagers still in high school -- get pregnant, they can face many challenges. An unexpected pregnancy can throw a girl's life into chaos, and these young mothers can usually use all the help they can get. That's where the Maine Children's Home for Little Wanderers comes in. Along with the regular high school subjects of English, History and Math, the students at this school also attend parenting classes. Producer Sarah Elzas visited the school and produced this story. Sarah's story was produced with the help of the Salt Institute for Documentary Studies.

(Photo by waI.ti:)