Wanting What's Best

Jaffe goes beyond describing the sorry state of modern American parenthood to tackle a more meaningful question: What are parents' obligations to do something about it? Synthesizing deep research with parent interviews and personal reflections, Jaffe illuminates the painful tension that well-off parents face when it comes to providing an advantage for their already-advantaged children amid broken, inequitable systems. This book is for every parent who wants to know how they can work for a more just society while giving their children a healthy upbringing--and who wants to learn that those goals may be knit closer together than you think. --Elliot Haspel, author of Crawling Behind: America's Childcare Crisis and How to Fix It We make so many decisions as parents that don't only affect our children, but have ripple effects throughout the world--the daycares and schools we choose, the conversations we have, the strings we pull. So how do we raise our kids in ways that won't leave other people's kids behind? Wanting What's Bestis an essential roadmap for parents who want to make thoughtful choices that won't inadvertently perpetuate injustice or discrimination, but that will instead lay the groundwork for a better, fairer future for all. --Melinda Wenner Moyer, author of How to Raise Kids Who Aren't Assholes With Wanting What's Best, Sarah W. Jaffe has written an essential parenting book. But rather than addressing children's behavior, Jaffe turns her sharp eye to the behavior of parents--clearly and sensibly laying out how parents' choices can widen inequality and inadvertently make life harder for everyone. Wanting What's Best is a clarion call to take a more expansive view of family, care, and community, and includes practical steps that parents can take to reframe both their thinking and actions. This is a necessary book for engaging parents in work that we all need to do. --Lydia Kiesling, author of The Golden State Wanting What's Best is a no-nonsense, practical guide for parents who don't want 'what's best' for just their kids, but for all kids. Sarah Jaffe doesn't mince words in describing how privileged White parents contribute to and maintain systemic racism and classism. But rather than only point out problems, she offers concrete, practical advice on how to push back on and tear down those systems. In discussions of education, activism, and wealth, she provides both individual actions that subvert those systems and organizations that are doing this essential work. To back it all up, she deftly weaves together facts based on research and the stories of fellow parents from a variety of backgrounds grappling with these challenges. --Shannon Brescher Shea, author of Growing Sustainable Together: Practical Resources for Raising Kind, Engaged, Resilient Children