In The Idle ParentTom Hodgkinson provides a revolutionary and wholly sensible approach to childcare, based on the idea of D.H. Lawrence - and taken up by many others - that the best thing we can do for children is to leave them alone.
Of course, this doesn't mean that we should completely neglect them, but rather that we should provide them with the space and time to grow up self-reliant, confident, happy and free. To do so we need to stop worrying and start nurturing the natural instincts towards creativity and independence that are in every child. And in so doing we will find ourselves becoming happier and better parents.
Full of wit and humour, Tom applies his trademark left-of-centre theories of idleness to one of the most thorny aspects of adult life. This is the perfect book for anyone grappling with parenthood and in need of some sage advice and practical examples.
