Safe and Sound: Protecting Your Child in an Unpredictable World

by Vanessa L. Ochs

Overview

Drawing on research in child development and extensive interviews with families, journalist Vanessa Ochs helps parents make sensible, age-appropriate decisions about when to protect and when to let go and provides strategies for taming their irrational fears and transforming them into manageable ones. Here's sound guidance for parents who want to keep their kids safe and sound, while still nurturing their self-reliance and sense of security.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780140178807
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	08/01/1995
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.80(d)

Editorial Reviews

Ochs, a journalist who specializes in child development and family-related topics, writes a direct and sympathetic guide for parents who are ``no longer sure how to draw the thin line between sane caution and overprotection.'' After her own injury in a car accident precipitated a bout of extreme overprotection of her children, Ochs determined to examine the rational and irrational reasons behind parental overprotection. The bulk of the book is devoted to chapters arranged by stages of a child's life, starting with pre-birth. In each, Ochs outlines the typical protective decisions facing parents and provides sensible tips on knowing when to let go. She suggests a strategy, modeled on traffic lights, for assessing typical anxiety-provoking situations-``an easy green'' is leaving a child with a grandparent, while a ``red light'' is a teenager's request to go to a party where drinking is likely. The final chapter takes an insightful and poignant look at family protection talismans and rituals-from wearing St. Christopher medals to once-a-week phone conversations-and how they give a sense of security to parents and offspring of all ages. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly