German Parenting

Remember that Sting song "Englishman in New York"? Where the singer is British, experiencing New York culture and quirks?

I feel like that when I read American-mom-goes-to-another-country-and-learns-that-parenting-is-cultural-too, the insider/outsider perspective. This is the case with Acthung Baby:An American Mom on the German Art of Raising Self-Reliant Children by Sara Zaske about German parenting.

Sara is a methodical writer, and I learned about more than parenting as she delves into issues that systems that affect parents everywhere: in this case, how to navigate the country's health care system, playground system, and education system.

At first what's foreign becomes familiar and then even starts to make more sense than the way it's done in the States. And like all parenting books of this genre on my list, I read it when I was parenting young kids, and then again with older kids, and it was good for me to think about my parenting style and what could be improved.

If you are on a parenting-in-another-country binge, this is a good one to have on your list. If you'd like more, read on.