Due to her extensive experience as a mother in Paris, the New York Times journalist has penned an entire book that heaps praise on the French maman while raising an eyebrow at American (that would be New York women) and their horrible offspring.
Her book, Bringing Up Bebe, is a collection of Ms. Druckerman's observations as she compared her maternal instincts to those of the natives. Of course, she found the French to be superior in raising respectful children but that might be because the French are actually parenting, and not trying to be Junior's best mate.
After spending nearly a week in Paris, however, I'm inclined to wonder if there are actually children in the nation's capital.
They weren't in the restaurants, that's for certain. Not once did we see a miniature human being at any one of the bistros or brasseries.
No surprise, of course, that there were no wee little ones at Sunday Mass. If it weren't for the tourists, the churches in Paris would be largely empty.
Not until New Year's Day, as we strolled along the Champs Elysees, did we spy any miniature French people. I'm left to wonder if the Parisians send all their children away to school immediately after birth, to be trained in polite manners and dining etiquette.
Is that the real secret?
Being tough, taking the role of the heavy, is the unpleasant part of parenting. You can't control your children if you're more concerned with them liking you. What better system than to have someone else do the dirty work, while the parents go out for dinner with adult friends or linger over a croissant at Paul?
That's why God invented nuns and the Catholic school system, isn't it?
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