Long Days, Short Years

A Cultural History of Modern Parenting

Andrew Bomback

$55

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

MIT Press
09 August 2022

Family & health

How parenting became a verb, from Dr. Spock and June Cleaver to baby whispering and free-range kids.

How parenting became a verb, from Dr. Spock and June Cleaver to baby whispering and free-range kids.

When did ""parenting"" become a verb? Why is it so hard to parent, and so rife with the possibility of failure? Sitcom families of the past-the Cleavers, the Bradys, the Conners-didn't seem to lose any sleep about their parenting methods. Today, parents are likely to be up late, doomscrolling on parenting websites. In Long Days, Short Years, Andrew Bomback-physician, writer, and father of three young children-looks at why it can be so much fun to be a parent but, at the same time, so frustrating and difficult to parent. It's not a ""how to"" book (although Bomback has read plenty of these) but a ""how come"" book, investigating the emergence of an immersive, all-in approach to raising children that has made parenting a competitive (and often not very enjoyable) sport.

Drawing on parenting books, mommy blogs, and historical accounts of parental duties as well as novels, films, podcasts, television shows, and his own experiences as a parent, Bomback charts the cultural history of parenting as a skill to be mastered, from the laid-back Dr. Spock's 1950s childcare bible-in some years outsold only by the actual Bible-to the more rigid training schedules of Babywise. Along the way, he considers the high costs of commercialized parenting (from the babymoon on), the pressure on mothers to have it all (and do it all), scripted parenting as laid out in How to Talk So Kids Will Listen, parenting during a pandemic, and much more.

By: Andrew Bomback
Imprint: MIT Press
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 203mm, Width: 133mm,
Weight: 567g
ISBN: 9780262047159
ISBN 10: 0262047152
Pages: 176
Publication Date: 09 August 2022
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Author's Note xi 1 How Parent Became My Verb 1 2 How Parent Became Everyone's Verb 9 3 Playing the Role of Parent 25 4 For Sale 41 5 Maddened/Melted 51 6 We Are Here to Help (I) 69 7 We Are Here to Help (II) 83 8 Parents Strike Back 97 9 Precision Parenting 109 Epilogue: Parenting during a Pandemic 129 Acknowledgments 143 Notes 145 Index 157

Andrew Bomback is Associate Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center and the author of Doctor. His essays have appeared in the Atlantic, Los Angeles Review of Books, McSweeney's, and elsewhere.

Reviews for Long Days, Short Years: A Cultural History of Modern Parenting

Bomback's work on modern parenthood takes on many prevalent topics, including economic anxiety, social pressures, and the tension between careers and family life. His narrative also reveals the internal pressures that parents face to become the best they can be in that role, while recognizing the limits of their resources, patience, and personalities...His empathy and frankness shine through on each page. This book is enjoyable to read and likely to be validating for many parents of young children. -Library Journal