Q&A with Pamela Druckerman - author of French Children Don't Throw Food. Post your questions - ANSWERS BACK

I wonder how much of the books anecdotes are Parisian-centred? Lots of cliches which are said to be true in Paris, I've just not observed in my neck of rural France. I see fat kids/mums, rude kids, kids misbehaving etc. I haven't read the book, but the question in the title can possibly be answered by the nounou. Everyone I know sends their DC to childminders and these experienced women are keen on rules. My DS now drinks perfectly out of a cup and always goes to the table to do so and to eat his biscuit whereas I just let him run a bit wild.

When DS1 was a toddler my father and I spent a fairly unrelaxed lunch at a nice restaurant in rural France, working hard to ensure that DS behaved as well as the impeccably well dressed little (French) girl at the next table. He was a credit to me....

But I had to stop telling him to copy the nice little French girl when (after pudding) she slapped her Granny. Agreed, I didn't see any food being thrown, but am pretty sure that I don't want to encourage that sort of behaviour.

I've been to rural France quite a lot and didn't see any actual evidence of better behaved children.

As a Brit who lives in France I could think of reasons why French children wouldn't throw food, most of them are fear based.

Very different parenting styles, often with much rougher parenting.

Not sure we should be looking at French parenting styles to improve our own.

Kids are kids. I've lived in France and this idea is a big fat lie. There are parents there who scream and yell at their kids and feed them crap, just like anywhere. Why do we get child rearing books shoved at us constantly? The only difference with the French is that they would make a face if you tried to sell them a book on child rearing.

As a Franco-Brit myself with family on both sides of the Manche, I can think of a few choice answers to the author's rhetorical questions. But I'll wait to form an opinion until after I've read the book, if I'm selected to receive it.

Maybe I've been to the wrong parts of France but the kids there seemed to be just the same as the kids over here (have seen French toddlers tantrumming in the local supermarket and in restaurants etc.) and the parents seemed just the same too, certainly weren't all well dressed, co-ordinated etc. like people seem to think.

Maybe it is just a certain small group of French parents that are like this.

I read most of your book. It seemed to me that some of the French 'parenting secrets' are to breastfeed as little as possible, get your child into full time nursery care as soon as possible, to whip back into a svelte pre-pregnancy state as soon as possible (no cake?!) and not to feel guilty about it. Oh and not to complain about your other half if they don't do anything about the house, because you accept they are a 'different species' who just aren't programmed to pick up socks!

This is what many parents do as regards work etc (some by choice, others because they have to). It's not unusual and I don't see how this can be held up as some kind of French parenting 'secret'.

Please feel free to correct me, if I've misunderstood the book! If it was to document your time there and point out the differences, maybe it should have been marketed differently.

Lovely offer, but I had better decline, as I am worried that DD will throw food on - or up on - the book.