The Mindful Parent: Strategies from Peaceful Cultures to Raise Compassionate, Well-Balanced Kids

Peterson, a psychologist for 35 years, made it her “major life quest” to study parenting around the world. Her travels took her to 60 different countries, but she refers primarily to Tibetan, Bhutanese, and Balinese cultures in this wide-ranging text. Peterson compares the deeply nurturing practices prevalent in these countries to features of American parenting she finds dispiriting: the use of day care from an early age, and a lack of support from extended family members and the government (which Denmark, for example, provides through generous paid leave). In response, Peterson offers a relational approach, which she calls mindful parenting, emphasizing close proximity and physical contact through practices such as safe cosleeping, breastfeeding, and wearing babies in slings. She also provides brain development research supporting her position that these measures contribute to higher mental and emotional health. Without placing the blame on working parents, Peterson cites statistics demonstrating the urgency of problems facing American kids and calls for new, more family-friendly policies. Some readers may find her approach impractical or unoriginal (William Sears’s attachment-parenting concept comes to mind), but her impassioned plea for change will spark others to seek creative ways to extend their time at home with their youngsters. (Nov.)