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I don’t think she singles out dads at all in this. I think she’s talking about a style of parenting, and she contrasts moms and dads as seemingly one unit, and there’s definitely something to be said for her perspective.
My daughters’ elementary school enrollment included about 30% children who are either French or who have at least one parent who is French or at least French speaking. Some of the things the writer says are, frankly, common sense that many American parents simply don’t do. For example, regarding food, as we were out last night eating our salads, many other families with kids settled for burgers and fries or chicken fingers and fries, or maybe pasta. Your children do eat what you eat and encourage them to eat.
However, getting back to the French, I found a pattern of being rude and pushy amongst the parents. Perhaps much of it is a cultural divide. For instance, in a crowd, they seem to only understand pushing and shoving rather than queuing or waiting one’s turn on a first come first served basis. Perhaps they have some very worthwhile parenting practices but pushing and shoving to get things done is straight up rude, even if it’s culturally acceptable.
The pushing and shoving you experienced is called risquillage. Literally translated as “taking the risk”, it is the art of cutting in line. Here are instructions on how to do it by the Paris food blogger David Lebovitz:
“To do it properly, you have to do it sans regret. Just step up to the counter, fix your gaze on the salesperson (or butcher, boulanger, etc.) and don’t look anyone else in the eye (or you’re screwed), and have exact change…unless you’re a little old lady…
…then feel free to stand there and count out the centimes one-by-one, acting completely surprised, as if it’s the first time anyone’s ever asked you to pay for anything.”
The difference between France and America is that the French are influenced by fashion houses, while Americans are influenced by Hollywood. The French value family and traditional French culture and customs; Americans value pop culture and a bunch of other sub-cultures (ie. rape culture) which don’t add any value to family life nor make us more cultured. All of this has a trickling effect.
Oh and Americans also pay homage to sports ie. football, hockey….
The French are grounded in reality; Americans like to live out and live in fantasy…some succumb to drugs either to help them live in fantasy or ‘help’ people cope with reality — drugs… the leading cause of death; unfulfilled dreams?