New York Times columnist and VPR commentator Jessica Lahey takes on the overparenting trend in her new book, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed. The New Hampshire-based educator and mother of two boys argues that while packing our kids’ lunches, driving their forgotten homework to school and tying their shoes might make us feel like good and attentive parents, these actions might actually be harming our kids. “The setbacks, mistakes, miscalculations and failures we have shoved out of our children’s way are the very experiences that teach them to be resourceful, persistent, innovative and resilient citizens of the world,” she writes in the introduction to the book. In September, Lahey embarks on a book tour to share her well-researched findings. Stay tuned for local engagements.
The Gift of Failure, HarperCollins, 304 pages, $26.99. August 11 release date. Visit jessicalahey.com for more information.
This article was originally published in Seven Days’ monthly parenting magazine, Kids VT.
This article appears in Kids VT, August 2015.
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