There is no question that the adult caregivers play an important role in the baby s life. It is from these older people that babies learn their first language, have their first experiences in forming and maintaining relationships, and get their first lessons in following rules. Then, she devotes nearly 400 pages to her own well-written, but Swiss cheese views of parental influence and child development research. Her personal agenda thus fulfilled, she proceeds to insult a reader s memory by listing numerous ways in which parents can influence their children. And perhaps the most astounding aspect of this list is that it is excellent C quite out of place in a book that insists parent-child interactions have no influence on children.
Parents can influence their children s choice of professional and leisure time activities.
Parents influence the way their children behave at home. Parents supply knowledge and training that their children can take with them after they leave the home. Parents can influence their child s choice of religion. Parents can influence how their children eventually run a home. Parents can influence their children s peer relationships by choosing to live in a particular neighborhood or by enrolling their child in a particular school.