Hunt, Gather, Parent: What Ancient Cultures Can Teach Us About the Lost Art of Raising Happy, Helpful Little Humans

In her fourth and final TEAM section, Doucleff discusses the concept of minimal interference. She opens by exploring the difference in how Western and Maya parents teach children to walk, with Westerners often walking in front of the child and offering help, and Maya parents walking behind the toddler, so the child feels they are walking on their own.

Doucleff reflects on the process of writing Hunt, Gather, Parent and how, by learning from people like Maria, she developed the TEAM method of parenting. She divides parenting into micro- and macro-parenting, with micro-parenting referring to controlling children’s immediate behavior and macro-parenting referring to “big picture” parenting needs, like planning a child’s daily schedule. TEAM is presented as an alternative to macro- and micro-parenting—”With TEAM parenting, the mom and dad set the daily agenda and overall schedule for the whole family. They go about their business around the home and community, and expect the kids to follow along, more or less” (295).

Doucleff admits that she doesn’t always “get it right” (296), but that implementing TEAM parenting has benefitted both her and Rosy. She describes a moment of successful parenting, where she was cooking while Rosy danced.