In the Midst of Parenting

A look at the real dramas and dilemmas

Carol Smaldino

Carol Smaldino - a psychotherapist and a mother - has taken up the challenge of all those professionals and experts who claim to have the answers to the everyday problems encountered by parents: she is strongly against a ‘one-size-fits all’ child-rearing approach.

Smaldino believes that new parents are in danger of drowning as they are faced by all the many theories which promise success.

At the end of the day, she argues, if we are, as a parent, in touch with our own feelings, and recognize them for what they are, we can follow our instincts and get in tune with our child. She begs parents to get in step with the essence of their children, rather than with the illusion of what and who we want our child to be. However, her approach is more than a ‘trust your own intuition’: it is a way of discovering how to be in touch with your child, by being sensitive to both your own and your children’s needs.

Parents with different faiths - Smaldino has a Jewish background while her husband has a Catholic one - will find the chapter on the struggle of what to tell the children about religion, an interesting one. She chronicles the road they themselves took and the effect it had upon them all.

So if you feel bombarded by confusing and conflicting advice about child-rearing, read this book. It will help you to identify some of your own emotions too.

© Jill Curtis 2002

Brooklyn Girl Books $16.95  

and is available from ISBN 0 967700898 0