License to Parent
How My Career As a Spy Helped Me Raise Resourceful, Self-Sufficient Kids
1 of 1 copy available
Christina was a single, successful CIA analyst with a burgeoning career in espionage when she met fellow spy, Ryan, a hotshot field operative who turned her world upside down. They fell in love, married, and soon they were raising three children from his first marriage, and later, two more of their own.
Christina knew right away that there was something special about the way Ryan was parenting his kids, although she had to admit their obsession with surviving end-of-world scenarios and their ability to do everything from archery to motorcycle riding initially gave her pause. More than that, Ryan's kids were much more security savvy than most adults she knew. She soon realized he was using his CIA training and field experience in his day-to-day child-rearing. And why shouldn't he? The CIA trains its employees to be equipped to deal with just about anything. Shouldn't parents strive to do the same for their kids?
As Christina grew into her new role as a stepmom and later gave birth to their two children, she got on board with Ryan's unique parenting style—and even helped shape it using her own experiences at the CIA. Told through honest and relatable parenting anecdotes, Christina shares their distinctive approach to raising confident, security-conscious, resilient children, giving practical takeaways rooted in CIA tradecraft along the way. License to Parent aims to provide parents with the tools necessary to raise savvier, well-rounded kids who have the skills necessary to navigate through life.
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Creators
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Publisher
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Release date
June 8, 2021 -
Formats
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OverDrive Listen audiobook
- ISBN: 9780593408865
- File size: 214291 KB
- Duration: 07:26:26
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Languages
- English
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Reviews
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May 3, 2021
Christina and Ryan Hillsberg, married former CIA spies, turn their espionage training into helpful parenting advice in this one-of-a-kind guide on raising self-sufficient kids. Their focus is on empowering children with real-world skills and countering helicopter parenting: “I didn’t want to parent from a place of fear,” Christina writes, but “from a place of knowledge and strength.” The lessons that follow cover skills often left off parenting checklists, as the authors encourage teaching children how to read a map, tout the importance of learning to understand one’s body’s limits, and cover how to visualize success. Some of the Hillsberg family’s plans can strike as far-fetched (they keep a box stocked with such items as cigarettes that might come in handy for trading in case a cash economy crumbles), but Christina is an accomplished storyteller, combining examples from her life with insightful parenting tips (she describes the role-play used in her training at the CIA’s covert training center, and encourages parents to use the technique with children, for example). At times the guide reads like a thriller, as when their daughters suspect they’re being tailed on their way home, but things never get gimmicky. Insightful and entertaining, this is a winning spin on the usual parenting fare. Agent: Howard Yoon, Ross Yoon Agency.
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