51 pages 1 hour read

The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward

Nonfiction | Autobiography / Memoir | Adult | Published in 2025

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Index of Terms

The “Good Enough” Parent

The “good enough” parent is a parenting philosophy that French Gates adopted to counter perfectionist tendencies in child-rearing. This concept, originally developed by British psychologist Donald Winnicott in the 1950s, describes a parent who provides adequate care and attention to their children without striving for impossible standards of perfection, emphasizing the text’s thematic examination of the Balance Between Independence and Interdependence. According to this framework, good enough parents accept imperfection in both themselves and their children, recognizing that attempting to meet every need and prevent every disappointment actually harms a child’s development. The philosophy argues that children benefit more from parents who allow them to experience age-appropriate challenges and develop independence rather than from parents who try to shield them from all difficulties. For French Gates, embracing the good enough parent model provided relief from overwhelming guilt about balancing work and family responsibilities, allowing her to focus on genuine care rather than performative perfectionism. This approach ultimately enables parents to prepare their children for real-world independence while maintaining loving, supportive relationships.

Greenhouse

A greenhouse, as used in The Next Day, refers to the metaphorical space that friends and loved ones create within themselves to nurture and preserve the positive qualities of people they care about.

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