When Emily Oster, an economist at Brown University in Rhode Island, became a mother, she decided to analyze the actual data on contentious parenting issues such as breastfeeding, sleep and screen time.
At the beginning of this decade I was a married, working mother with three children under seven. Today, at 51, I’m a married, working mum with four children aged eight to 17. I wrote my first weekly parenting column in a national newspaper in 2009, so I’ve charted the changing parenting trends both as a curious observer and as an enthusiastic participant.
Corrine grew up in a wonderful household; her parents never so much as swore in front of her. In her own words, they were “amazing role models,” but when she became a teenager Corrine started rebelling.