Great Kids: Helping Your Baby and Child Develop the 10 Essential Qualities for a Healthy, Happy Life
By Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan (Da Capo, $22.95)
Prolific author and longtime clinical professor of psychiatry and pediatrics Stanley Greenspan has identified 10 traits to nurture in babies and children that are essential for leading happy and successful lives.
1. The 10 traits: engagement (relating to others), empathy, curiosity, communication, emotional range, genuine self-esteem, internal discipline, creativity and vision, logical thinking, and moral integrity.
2. “Great kids” are lively, independent, friendly and optimistic — teens who invite a new classmate to sit with them at lunch, toddlers who take turns at the playground, 4th graders who help a teacher unload her car.
3. Learning to empathize starts when a baby is cared for by consistently loving, devoted caregivers. As your baby grows, “help him tune in to others’ feelings by making your feelings clear … in facial expressions and voice.”
4. “Creative people seem to have a visionary sense of the possibilities that lie just beneath the surface” of daily life. Nurture this trait by encouraging your child to explore his natural interests.
5. Your child will learn morality from how you treat her, not what you tell her.
