Parents of children I follow often ask me for advice on how to bring up their kids. The idea is that there are strategies they are unaware of that will make their kids happy and successful. Their doubts and questions vary from whether they should give their kids so-called educational games, get them to finish everything in their plate, take them in their arms when they are crying, allow them into their parents’ room or bed, get them a music teacher. Data say that doing things one way or another does not change much. Even very small children have extraordinary resources that go far beyond any programs or ideas parents may have. There are however two factors that make a difference. Children must feel their parents love them and they must live in a safe, healthy and stimulating environment. This gives them the courage to explore their surroundings, learn and form their personality. It does not matter whether the stroller faces forwards or backwards. The problem is that many parents leave home early in the morning and come home at dinner time, working in tiring and poorly paid jobs, that mothers stay at home doing a job that is crucial for society, but are not paid and are considered to be unemployed, that exploring one’s environment riding a bicycle might well mean exploring the Emergency Department, that one in three families shows its love for kids by letting a judge decide when, where and how often parents see their kids, that to go broke all you have to do is open a book shop and to become rich open a shop that sells luxury clothes for kids. The problem is that children are long term investments: they don’t produce anything valuable, they use up an awful amount of energy, they are bad tempered, won’t stay alone, don’t listen, are often ill, are awake at night and sleep in the day and probably do not come up the way we want. A remedy that is popular in Italy, particularly in Liguria and Piedmont, is to have ever fewer children. With a birth rate of 1.1 kids a family, extinction is guaranteed long before climate change or wars or nuclear disasters solve the problem. Another strategy, although less effective, is to shorten childhood by setting off puberty earlier so that we have young adults much sooner. High calorie food, lack of sport, specific TV programs, going to bed late at night all contribute to triggering early puberty.