The author of Small Animals did something that was normal when I was growing up but apparently unthinkable now: she left her 4 year old in the car while she ran into a store to buy something. Someone took a video of her son alone in the car and reported her to the police. The story of the legal ramifications of her split second decision and how the experience affected the author and her family is shared in the context of a larger examination of how parenting has changed in the last two decades. Parenting is now more like a competitive sport where parents posture and try to one up one another. She presents a compelling argument that the constant supervision and hyper protected way in which children are raised results in young adults who have no resilience or ability to deal with adversity. Her interviews with other mothers who have committed similar "crimes", psychologists and sociologists support her position.

Even though I do not have children of my own I found this to be a very interesting and insightful read.

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