Less Parenting, More Joy: How to Let Go, Trust Your Instincts, and Build a Deep Connection with Your Kids That Lasts a Lifetime

From Design Mom blogger Gabrielle Blair and her husband, Ben Blair, a unique guide that subverts the concept of ＂perfect parenting＂ by embracing uncertainty.

Gabrielle and Ben Blair have been raising kids for over two decades. Through the years, they’ve charted their own unconventional path: working from home before remote work was a thing; uprooting their kids four, five, six times - including a move to France where they enrolled in local schools without knowing the language. It’s been a unique parenting journey characterized by experimentation, trial and error, decisions prompted by financial or psychological necessity, varying levels of anxiety and tension, despair, and hope. This unique path turned out to be fertile soil for growing independent, resilient, and creative kids, and a family that is genuinely close and truly enjoys each other’s company.

With this book they share how they did it, and how we can too: by letting go of tired expectations of what it means to be a good parent (focus less on grades and more on seeing your kid for who they are); by accepting that the old rules won’t necessarily apply in the future (changes in higher ed and career-building are evolving at a rapid pace) and instead focus on making your time with your kids one of connection, adventure, shared projects, creativity and joy. And it doesn’t require moving to France!

Gabrielle Stanley Blair is the founder of Alt Summit, the blockbuster biannual conference for lifestyle bloggers and creative entrepreneurs, currently in its twelfth year. She is also the founder of DesignMom.com. Started in 2006, it has been named a Website of the Year by Time magazine, praised as a top parenting blog by The Wall Street Journal, Parents, and Better Homes & Gardens, and won the Iris Award for Blog of the Year. Her first book, Design Mom: How to Live with Kids, a New York Times bestseller, was published in 2015 by Artisan.

On her website, Gabrielle covers the intersection of design and parenting, with thoughtful posts on topics like how to talk to your kids about sex, family travel, food kids will really eat, political issues, and family-friendly design.

Gabrielle and her husband, Ben Blair, have six children--Ralph, Maude, Olive, Oscar, Betty, and Flora June. Her family divides their time between the United States and France. Follow her on Instagram and Twitter at @designmom.