A parenting guide providing compassionate instruction and insight into raising a resilient, well-balanced child.

Raising a child to be an authentic and mentally robust adult is one of life’s great challenges. It is also, fortunately, not a matter of luck. There are many things to understand about how children’s minds operate and what they need from those who look after them so they can develop into the best version of themselves.

The Good Enough Parent is a compendium of lessons, including ideas on how to say ‘no’ to a child one adores, how to look beneath the surface of ‘bad’ behaviour to work out what might really be going on, how to encourage a child to be genuinely kind, how to encourage open self-expression, and how to handle the moods and gloom of adolescence.

Importantly, this is a book that knows that perfection is not required – and could indeed be unhelpful, because a key job of any parent is to induct a child gently into the imperfect nature of everything. Written in a tone that is encouraging, wry and soaked in years of experience, The Good Enough Parent is an intelligent guide to raising a child who will one day look back on their childhood with just the right mixture of gratitude, humour and love.

Hardback book | 192 pages  | 180 x 125 mm | 28 Illustrations 

Praise from Goodreads

"Of all of the parenting books I've had the pleasure of reading so far, this ranks high among them, and I'd absolutely recommend it to an aspiring or soon-to-be mom and dad. It does a great job at soothing a parent who might be worried about their competency level, and The School of Life has packaged together a work that's quite unique and versatile."

"The Good Enough Parent is for any parents who feel that their personality flaws are getting in the way of going a decent enough job. It is also for those trying to get better at what is seemingly one of the hardest jobs in the world."

"A philosophical and thought-provoking read for any parent or soon-to-be parent. It focuses on how to demonstrate empathy for a child and how to see things from their perspective."