Raising kids without pain and trouble

Juul says children need to be seen and recognised. This doesn’t mean praise for kicking that special goal or coming first in maths. Kids just want to know that they are there in their parents’ lives. Children treated with respect treat others with respect.

I have some experience raising three kids and now help out with grandkids. I’ve written about aspects of raising kids, especially boys. But I still wonder whether I fully understand all that the author has to say.

There could be some problems in translation (the author is Danish). I look sometimes at the words and wonder if there’s some reason why I don’t follow what’s being said.

It’s also true that there are some mistakes in the printing. Words are oddly hyphenated.  “Desert” is confused with “dessert”. There are sudden and surprising gaps in the text. And so on. Should I mention that the book was printed in China? There is no index. But I can’t find any reference to kids in blended families, kids with single mothers, gay parents, kids of refugees, Hindu or Muslim or Jewish kids, and all the complicated ways in which families have changed, and are changing.

I can say that this book will get parents talking and thinking. From the experience of a university education lecturer, a father and a grandfather, I doubt that there is any sure-fire way of raising kids. It’s an inexact science. If I had all the answers, I’d be a billionaire.