"From a distinctive, inimitable voice, a wickedly funny and fascinating romp through the strange, and often contradictory history of Western parenting"--

Why do we read our kids fairy tales about homicidal stepparents? Exhausted, frazzled, and at sea after the birth of her two children, Traig began to interrogate the traditional parenting advice she'd been conditioned to accept at face value. The result is a deft-- and hilarious-- dissection of the history of Western parenting, moving from ancient Rome to Puritan New England to the Dr. Spock craze of mid-century America. Have our techniques actually evolved into something better? Or are we still just scrambling in the dark? -- adapted from jacket