Good Enough Parenting

Scarr's argument in simple terms is that extremist parents who go above and beyond to ensure their child has every possible opportunity to succeed in life really produce no better, more successful offspring than "normal" parents who provide little more than a loving, warm home environment. I am not sure it is possible to convince a parent of this. Of course most parents want the very best for their children. Providing detailed statistics, presenting studies, and throwing around numbers isn't going to do anything to convince parents that they can "slack" in their parenting and their children will still do just fine. Also, no one wants to admit that their genes play a huge role. Unfortunately, we can't choose our own and we can't change the ones our kids get from us. Is this convincing to me? Meh. I am, because of my genes, a perfectionist. Never was perfectionism thrust upon me by my parents, in fact, I was the super-kid that wished my parents had time and money to do all of the super-parenting things. Neither of my parents even attended college. So I can see both sides. I see that some genetics and some natural inclinations have a huge effect on how a child turns out. But at the same time, when I am a parent, I am STILL going to be a perfectionist. And consequently, want to be a perfectionist super parent. Even though I know it may never matter, there is a part of me that would still have to give it my best effort.