![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
We have this book, my sister has it.
It's marvelous. Lots of nifty, common-sense advice that you would've thought of yourself if you weren't too busy dealing with the results of not having thought of it yet :P Some of the assumptions it makes (like that you'll definitely bottlefeed) are quite antiquated, and I wouldn't take a few of the safety tips even with a hefty grain of salt (we just know more now about car safety and whatnot!), but the bulk of it is incredibly useful.
The most useful bit, I think, is how much it puts the lie to the story that children always behaved perfectly when "you were kids" and responded immediately to a firm no, so one never had to childproof or anything. The many spots of advice on how "even when you tell a kid no, they'll still be interested, so do this to prevent tragedy" make clear how much our various parents and grandparents are either a. lying b. senile or c. suffering from nostalgia.
I adore this book.
It's marvelous. Lots of nifty, common-sense advice that you would've thought of yourself if you weren't too busy dealing with the results of not having thought of it yet :P Some of the assumptions it makes (like that you'll definitely bottlefeed) are quite antiquated, and I wouldn't take a few of the safety tips even with a hefty grain of salt (we just know more now about car safety and whatnot!), but the bulk of it is incredibly useful.
The most useful bit, I think, is how much it puts the lie to the story that children always behaved perfectly when "you were kids" and responded immediately to a firm no, so one never had to childproof or anything. The many spots of advice on how "even when you tell a kid no, they'll still be interested, so do this to prevent tragedy" make clear how much our various parents and grandparents are either a. lying b. senile or c. suffering from nostalgia.
I adore this book.
