Kelli A.

Headline for all American Parents: Mostly, Things Go Well --- This is what I really took away from Lenore's book, that yes, bad stuff happens, but mostly, things turn out okay. This doesn't mean to ignore or neglect your kids, but it notes how parenting in America has become this micro-managed activity where parents don't even feel comfortable letting their 12 or 13 year old go to the park without them.

It reminds us how we grew up-- without cellphones, with free-range of the neighborhood, walking to school or being out of touch with our parents for hours without them thinking we were abducted.

Why have we become such helicopter parents? Lenore's book looks at the question and considers the media and well, the disapproving looks of other parents and compares what we do as parents in America versus other parts of the world.

It's a great book to listen to if you want to give your kids more independence, but are worried about it or what might happen. I think it will be a book I will listen to on many occasions to re-remind me how much independence we used to have and how to help our kids have a little more.

Oh, the only negative in the book is at first you might think the reader is going to come off as annoying the whole book (almost a know-it-all), but her voice becomes more of a comfort than a hinderance as the book progresses.