What really matters in parenting.
KINDER BRAUCHEN UNPERFEKTE ELTERN
(Children Need Imperfect Parents)
by Caroline Märki and Knut Krüger
Kösel, April 2024
Perfect parenting results in perfect children? If only it were that easy. Many parents are exceedingly ambitious and want to do their job as ‘flawlessly’ as possible. But in doing so, they miss out on how much families can benefit when parents do NOT raise their children according to some standard textbook. In their book, Caroline Märki and Knut Krüger, two close confidants and companions of Jesper Juul, get to the bottom of assumedly golden parenting rules, exposing the deeply rooted but erroneous axioms and parenting myths that are hidden underneath. Notions such as ‘Parents must be consistent!’ are refuted and discarded once and for all, not only because such ideas make our lives needlessly more difficult, but also because they frequently produce misunderstandings and self-doubt.
Well-founded, entertaining, and with many examples from everyday family life, this advice book proclaims this to all mothers and fathers: You have a right to make mistakes, and children don’t need parents who are perfect. Instead, they need parents who are willing to develop along with them. Make mistakes! Dare to be imperfect. Only then will you be just right for your children: approachable, empathetic, and authentic.
Caroline Märki, born in 1971, is the founder and director of familylab Switzerland, an offshoot of the international counseling network in leadership and relationship skills based on Jesper Juul. She works as a certified psychosocial counselor SGfB, and is a parent and adult educator, as well as head of the 4-year course Experience-oriented Family Counseling.
Knut Krüger has a degree in German Studies, and has worked in bookselling and publishing. Today he is a translator, editor and freelance writer, but his heart belongs to football. He claims that, at the mini World Cup in 1974, he (Italy) scored two goals against his opponent (Argentina), but unfortunately no one can confirm it…
