How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims

Disclosure: I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own. I received a free copy of How to Raise an Adult by Julie Lythcott-Haims for review.

As parents we have the most important job of all, raising our children to become healthy, happy and productive adults. There is no manual providing us step-by-step guidelines on how to raise our children. Many of us will seek guidance from our own experiences, search the web for parenting advice, consult with our friends and family or even just rely on our own intuition to handle different parenting situations.

In Julie Lythcott-Haims book How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success, she draws on research, conversations with educators and employers, and her own insights as a mother and student dean to highlight the ways in which over-parenting harms children and their stressed-out parents. She identifies types of helicopter parents and, while empathizing with parents’ universal worries, offers practical alternative strategies that underline the importance of allowing children to make their own mistakes and develop the resilience, resourcefulness, and inner determination necessary for success.

The book is informative and provides examples of parenting antidotes that may leave your jaw dropping. There is no debate that parenting styles and childhood experiences have changed over the years. To that end, Julie declares in her book has lead to over parenting, overprotecting and overscheduling of our kids. She offers practical alternative strategies that allow children to make their own mistakes and how to identify the lessons that will help them become better adults. She reintroduces the notion that childhood should be about preparing kids to become thriving, successful adults.

There is no doubt in my mind, parenting has changed from my childhood and while reading the book I identified with some of the over parenting behaviors that I may be guilty of. I remember walking several blocks to elementary school with a group of friends when I was younger. Would I allow my daughters to have that same responsibility and experience, no way! However, I do want to make sure I raise my daughters to be independent and self-sufficient adults. After reading the book, you will ponder and evaluate the answer to this very important question: Are you raising your kids to be productive adults?

To learn more about the book visit: http://clvr.li/htraa15