Compelling Atlantic article on why kids with “perfect” childhoods often are unhappy as adults.

A few excerpts:

“I can’t tell you how often I have to say to parents that they’re putting too much emphasis on their kids’ feelings because of their own issues. If a therapist is telling you to pay less attention to your kid’s feelings, you know something has gotten way of out of whack.”

“Please let them be devastated at age 6 and not have their first devastation be in college! Please, please, please let them be devastated many times on the soccer field!”

“…measures of self-esteem are poor predictors of how content a person will be, especially if the self-esteem comes from constant accommodation and praise rather than earned accomplishment…research shows that much better predictors of life fulfillment and success are perseverance, resiliency, and reality-testing.”

Photo: Sally Mann