"What You (Really) Need to Know About Parenting" by Tillmann Prüfer
Tillmann Prüfer is the head of the family section at *Die Zeit* and has been writing a column for years about life with his four daughters. Doc is quite a fan, partly because he often reads things in Prüfer’s column that he recognises exactly from his own life with his own daughters.
Prüfer has now written a book on parenting that is a real success. The author has worked incredibly hard, sifting through all the sound scientific research on parenting and compiling it here.
And at the end, there are some really good messages: for example, that we often overestimate what we can actually achieve through parenting. That free play is absolutely, absolutely vital during childhood. And that children need ‘moderate challenges’ – they need to learn to cope with things from time to time.
Verdict: A really good book, an easy read, offering plenty of insightful ideas – highly recommended.
Further interesting tips
Avoid disease transmission!
I received an interesting question from a mum. Namely: How can you, or to what extent do you have to avoid possible disease transmission to children in everyday life? Note in advance: We are making this generalised here, i.e. independent of coronavirus. Because it's clear that sensitivity to the transmission of infection is extremely high at the moment. But I think the question is generally important and will therefore be answered accordingly.
Advertising ban for sweets & co
In the UK, there has been a ban on advertising extremely unhealthy foods since January 2026. Specifically, products with significantly too much salt or significantly too much and too densely packed sugar may no longer be advertised on television before 9 p.m., and not at all online. Do we need the same in Germany?
Bark/ground lichen
A small and also a little bit disgusting clinical picture, which does not occur so rarely, is bark lichen. How do you recognise it and how is it treated?