Fed Up with Frenzy

July 1, 2012
Exhausted by the frenetic demands of modern parenthood, overbooked schedules, and little real quality time with her children, Lipman deliberately slowed down the pace of her family life when her now-teenage daughter entered elementary school. Lipman, currently social media director for the Children and Nature Network, draws on her years as a mother, writer, and community leader to offer sound advice and alternative activities to other parents worried that electronic gadgets are replacing meaningful family engagement. Parents may recall many of the activities of their own childhoods, including board games and jump rope. Activities are suggested for children of various ages and require little in the way of materials, as in making trains out of juice boxes and airplanes out of popsicle sticks. Lipman maintains that parents who slow the pace of family life find that they develop greater connections and have more revealing conversations with their children and that children develop positive character traits, from confidence to the much-coveted improved academic performance. Parents will enjoy this fun and helpful guide to slowing things down.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)