Tag Archives: parenting

Do Parents Matter? Recommended reading for raising free kids

Posted on March 18, 2019 by

Fair warning: this book may shake any strong convictions you have about the right way to parent. The LeVines have studied parenting practices in cultures all over the world. One of my favorite examples is the Nso people of Cameroon … Continue reading →

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Mommy Laid an Egg! recommended reading for raising free kids

Posted on March 11, 2019 by

Mommy Laid An Egg by Babette Cole is a silly book that tells kids the basic facts of life, and yes, it includes some ridiculous illustrations. When my daughter was in first grade, her teacher read this book to her … Continue reading →

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Happy New Year! The ACHTUNG BABY paperback is out today!

Posted on December 31, 2018 by

  * The first New Year’s Eve in Berlin, I thought the Germans were crazy. Everyone was shooting off fireworks. Not just tourists but shopkeepers and retirees, whole families with little kids setting off some pretty serious explosives for the … Continue reading →

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“Let the Children Fight” in The Wall Street Journal

Posted on December 28, 2017 by

Parenting the German Way: Let the Children Fight by Sara Zaske The chaos of German kindergartens is sometimes hard for Americans to understand. When I lived in Berlin for nearly seven years, I was surprised at first to find that kindergartens … Continue reading →

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A cover for ACHTUNG BABY

Posted on May 2, 2017 by

My book about German parenting is coming out in January 2, 2018, but this baby already has an awesome cover. It’s big, it’s bright, it’s yellow! And watch out for those kids! Read more about ACHTUNG BABY on this site, … Continue reading →

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Simple ways to give kids more free play

Posted on February 6, 2017 by

At this point, every parent in America has probably heard how important free play is for their kids. If you haven’t, there’s this article and this article and this article  just to name a few. We know that children need to … Continue reading →

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Dear America, Please Don’t Kill Halloween

Posted on October 29, 2016 by

Halloween is about the best thing about American childhood that our helicopter culture has been unable to ruin–yet. Despite our constant control of our children, on Halloween they can run around freely, sometimes even without their parents, and ask strangers … Continue reading →

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Why we should be more German

Posted on January 21, 2016 by

I love my country, but I have to admit I miss Germany. I lived there for six years. I’ve been back in California for six months, but all the sunshine and American friendliness didn’t quite make-up for Christmastime in Germany: drinking warm mulled wine outside, the smell of an open grill cooking real bratwurst—made from pork, not those bland, beef tubes we call hot dogs.

Lately, Germany has made it especially hard for me to enjoy being home. Mainly because Germany keeps showing up the U.S. The latest blow? U.S. News Word and Report ranked the country #1 in the world. The U.S. came in 4th.

That’s right, in a strange twist of history, Germany is now the nation to follow, not America. U.S. News even said most people thought Germany was better for entrepreneurship! What? That’s supposed to be our thing.
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The non-pushy parent: how to be a German mum

Posted on March 10, 2015 by

I wrote another piece about my experiences as an American parent in Berlin. It appeared in The Times newspaper in the U.K. Here’s a short sample. (Sorry you have to go to The Times site to read the whole thing but … Continue reading →

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