Piggyback Rides and Slippery Slides - How to have fun raising first-rate children by Lynnae Allred

Do you really need to read a book on how to play with your children? Maybe. Lynnae W. Allred’s new book, Piggyback Rides and Slippery Slides; How to Have Fun Raising First Rate Children, may not exactly be a necessity, but it could be a blessing. In a world where people enroll their three-month-old babies in classes and buy phonics toys for infants, it is safe to say that some parents don’t have a clue as to what is developmentally appropriate or necessary for children. To the extent that this book will help parents who need a little help fending off today’s excesses of hyper-parenting (or who didn’t see good parenting modeled by their own parents), it is, as Martha would say, a good thing. It also has some innovative ideas on making chores and that sort of thing more fun (hint: turn out the lights and aim your searchlight [flashlight] at the grenade that is about to explode [toys, dirty clothes] and see if your child can defuse [put away] it before it explodes in ten seconds). I wasn’t thrilled with her hyperbolic and over-generalized description of the differences between how fathers and mothers play with their children, but I was very pleased with her critique of over-scheduling.