The 5 Principles of Parenting: Your Essential Guide to Raising Good Humans

This discerning debut manual draws parenting lessons from psychological research. Outlining five practices for boosting children’s resilience, developmental psychologist Pressman stresses that parents should serve as a stable source of support, take time to reflect on how to best meet their children’s needs, regulate their own emotions, set limits on acceptable behavior, and go out of their way to remedy any rifts that arise between parent and child. She illustrates the importance of helping children develop a sense of autonomy by discussing a study that found children preferred to complete complex mazes over simpler ones because the greater number of choices was “inherently rewarding.” This doesn’t mean parents should give kids free rein, she contends, but caregivers instead might offer children a “choice about whether to brush their teeth or take a bath first” before bed. Elsewhere, Pressman weighs in on resolving sibling conflicts, regulating screen time, and helping children develop a healthy relationship with food. Her science-based suggestions are detailed and persuasive, and her tone is empathetic: “Doing the best we can more often than not” is “good enough.” Overextended parents will appreciate the astute guidance. (Jan.)