The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed
(Libby/OverDrive eBook, Kindle)

"Failure-avoidant" parenting would seem, on the surface, to be synonymous with good parenting. Children stay safe, get into good colleges, and seem happier, at least in the moment. Debut author Lahey proposes, however, that parents will ultimately serve their children better by allowing them to stand on their own abilities and experience the occasional failure. She has a host of suggestions for nurturing more self-directed children: ask them to do their own laundry and pack their own lunches, for instance. The book draws much of its value from Lahey's experience as a middle-school teacher. A chapter on how parents relate to their child's teachers provides rational and useful guidelines for parent-teacher meetings: be early, be friendly, and "support the student-teacher partnership even when it's challenging." Lahey can find value even in the likelihood of children encountering uncongenial teachers, writing that they "will be the people who will teach your child how to deal with the many challenging, unpleasant, contrary, and demanding people they will encounter over the course of their lives." Lahey has many wise and helpful words like these-ones that any parent can and should embrace. (Aug.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

If your kid forgets his lunch, should you bring it to school for him? What about his homework? Should you intervene if your daughter's friends are leaving her out? These common scenarios usually send today's parents into fix-it mode, but according to educator Lahey, the best of intentions can be a disservice to children, depriving them of valuable lessons and halting their growing confidence. Here the author gives the would-be helicopter parent a look at the consequences of "protecting" children from failure and demonstrates how natural consequences help build resilient and autonomous kids. In short, "what feels good to us isn't always what is good for our children." -VERDICT Lahey's conversational tone, combined with research and narratives from both children and parents, delivers in-depth insight into the value of mistakes. With chapters on specific age groups (middle schoolers and high schoolers) and hot-button issues, such as household chores, homework, and friendships, any parent who needs assistance reining in the supermom tendencies will find sound advice here. © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Reflections on the benefits of giving children the chance to experience failureand how to go about doing it. A teacher and writer on education and parenting for the New York Times and the Atlantic, Lahey provides an overview of parenting values through the decades in order to ensure that we don't return to outdated values, as well as to examine the weaknesses of the current approach. This would, in theory, provide useful information toward a new paradigm, rather than simply lurching back toward the end of the spectrum that involves such actions as smacking students' hands with rulers when they are disrespectful. While certainly not advocating that approach, Lahey is also unwilling to turn a blind eye to the problems inherent in modern parenting, which she characterizes as essentially overridden by parents' concerns about securing the best possible everything for their children: experiences free of disappointment, a prize for every participant, making sure self-esteem, above all else, is maintained. The result, the author argues compellingly, is hobbling children, leaving them unable to develop actual self-understanding and competency in how to integrate the idea of failure into their lives. Lahey brings her own parenting to the table, dissecting her difficulties in practicing what she preaches. For example, when her son leaves for school without the homework he'd worked so hard on, and she sees it, should she bring it to him and save him from missing recess? The author admits her struggles with holding the line and letting natural consequences take their course. In the majority of the book, Lahey focuses on strategies for navigating the parent/child/school triangle to avoid getting entangled in controlling the experience, but she also considers home chores, peer relationships, and a variety of other topics. An important, thoughtfully balanced book aimed at shifting thinking and providing concrete steps toward encouraging positiveand realisticself-image development. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.