NPR recently interviewed Pamela Druckerman, the author of Bringing up Bebe, on her observations of the uniqueness of French styles of parenting, and particularly what contributes to content, well-adjusted kids.

“We [Americans] assume … a little more that kids have inherent likes and dislikes, whereas the French view on food is the parent must educate their child and that appreciation for different food is something you cultivate over time,” Druckerman says.

One key to this cultivation of tastes appears to be exposure. Druckerman points out that in France, “there is no category of food called kids’ food. Kids and adults, from the start, eat the same thing.”

French parenting, like tiger parenting, helicopter parenting, and free-range parenting, is a mode of apprenticeship. It is initiating children into a way of seeing and experiencing the world. Children learn from their parents continually and implicitly what is normal and what is normative. In France, for example, it is normal for children to eat the same food as their parents, and to entertain themselves without parental supervision and interaction. French parents may or may not give thought to this. Regardless of the level of reflection, their children are apprenticed to them.

That’s why parenting matters, and why there are important lessons to learn from those who assume that their kids will develop a refined palate from trying all kinds of food from the start.