
The Secret of Half-Arsed Parenting
Raising kids with half the guilt and twice the joy
Susie O'Brien(Author)
Murdoch Books (Publisher)
Published on 6. August 2020
Book
296 pages
978-1-911632-74-0 (ISBN)
Description
Searching for permission to drop your standards, ditch the guilt and relax?
The Secret of Half-arsed Parenting is a practical and entertaining antidote to the extreme stress of modern parenting. It pokes fun at the unrealistic goals and expectations thrust on parents today, and offers a way to raise kids with less pressure, less guilt, less stress and fewer cupcakes baked at midnight.
It's not about doing a bad job. It's about recognising that parents don't have to be perfect. What's wrong with toasted sandwiches for dinner? Kids sharing bedrooms and bathrooms? The fact your child's first word was 'Bluey' rather than 'Mama'? Half-arsed parents let their kids succeed - and fail - on their own merits. They will protect them from bullies, head lice and mullet hairstyles, but not from every knock and bump of life that will make them better adults.
Drawing on worrying research into anxiety in children and parents in this era of helicopter parenting, journalist and doctor of education Susie O'Brien lays out the case for embracing a bit of half-arsed parenting in your house. By doing half as much, you might just make everyone twice as happy. Here's how.
The Secret of Half-arsed Parenting is a practical and entertaining antidote to the extreme stress of modern parenting. It pokes fun at the unrealistic goals and expectations thrust on parents today, and offers a way to raise kids with less pressure, less guilt, less stress and fewer cupcakes baked at midnight.
It's not about doing a bad job. It's about recognising that parents don't have to be perfect. What's wrong with toasted sandwiches for dinner? Kids sharing bedrooms and bathrooms? The fact your child's first word was 'Bluey' rather than 'Mama'? Half-arsed parents let their kids succeed - and fail - on their own merits. They will protect them from bullies, head lice and mullet hairstyles, but not from every knock and bump of life that will make them better adults.
Drawing on worrying research into anxiety in children and parents in this era of helicopter parenting, journalist and doctor of education Susie O'Brien lays out the case for embracing a bit of half-arsed parenting in your house. By doing half as much, you might just make everyone twice as happy. Here's how.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Dimensions
Height: 234 mm
Width: 153 mm
ISBN-13
978-1-911632-74-0 (9781911632740)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Dr Susie O'Brien is a journalist and columnist with a PhD in Education. For the last 19 years she has written about parenting and social issues for the Herald Sun and other News Ltd papers, and she appears weekly on Channel Seven's Sunrise. She and her partner have five kids between them - they're the Brady Bunch, without Alice to cook dinner every night.
Content
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION: THE HALF-ARSED WAY
SECTION ONE: BECOMING HALF-ARSED
CHAPTER 1: HALF-ARSED PARENTING BASICS
CHAPTER 2: HYPER-PARENTING - JUST DON'T DO IT
CHAPTER 3: MEET TODAY'S ENTITLED BRATS
CHAPTER 4: WHEN GOOD MUMS GO BAD
CHAPTER 5: THE SCARY NEW WORLD OF PARENTING
CHAPTER 6: IGNORE THE MUMMY WARS
CHAPTER 7: STOP THE SOCIAL MEDIA MADNESS
SECTION TWO: HALF-ARSED HOW-TOS
CHAPTER 8: BIRTH, BABIES AND BULLSH*T
CHAPTER 9: TODDLERS - HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
CHAPTER 10: TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL
CHAPTER 11: TEENAGERS - DRINK, SNOG, SLEEP, REPEAT
CHAPTER 12: SCREENS-TAMING THE DIGITAL NATIVES
CHAPTER 13: HALF-ARSED CELEBRATIONS - UNDERWHELM AND UNDERPERFORM
SECTION THREE: HALF-ARSED SOLUTIONS
CHAPTER 14: HAPPY HALF-ARSED KIDS
CHAPTER 15: HALF-ARSED HEROES
CHAPTER 16: HALF-ARSED HAPPINESS
CHAPTER 17: THE SECRETS OF HALF-ARSED PARENTING
INTRODUCTION: THE HALF-ARSED WAY
SECTION ONE: BECOMING HALF-ARSED
CHAPTER 1: HALF-ARSED PARENTING BASICS
CHAPTER 2: HYPER-PARENTING - JUST DON'T DO IT
CHAPTER 3: MEET TODAY'S ENTITLED BRATS
CHAPTER 4: WHEN GOOD MUMS GO BAD
CHAPTER 5: THE SCARY NEW WORLD OF PARENTING
CHAPTER 6: IGNORE THE MUMMY WARS
CHAPTER 7: STOP THE SOCIAL MEDIA MADNESS
SECTION TWO: HALF-ARSED HOW-TOS
CHAPTER 8: BIRTH, BABIES AND BULLSH*T
CHAPTER 9: TODDLERS - HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?
CHAPTER 10: TOO COOL FOR SCHOOL
CHAPTER 11: TEENAGERS - DRINK, SNOG, SLEEP, REPEAT
CHAPTER 12: SCREENS-TAMING THE DIGITAL NATIVES
CHAPTER 13: HALF-ARSED CELEBRATIONS - UNDERWHELM AND UNDERPERFORM
SECTION THREE: HALF-ARSED SOLUTIONS
CHAPTER 14: HAPPY HALF-ARSED KIDS
CHAPTER 15: HALF-ARSED HEROES
CHAPTER 16: HALF-ARSED HAPPINESS
CHAPTER 17: THE SECRETS OF HALF-ARSED PARENTING