In 2024, Russell Shaw made the case for the Lighthouse Parent. “A Lighthouse Parent stands as a steady, reliable guide,” Shaw writes, “providing safety and clarity without controlling every aspect of their child’s journey.” The term, used by the pediatrician Kenneth Ginsburg and others, is a useful rejoinder to the strong pull of intensive parenting. Parents’ first instinct is often to give a solution, to get involved, to fix it. It’s a natural impulse—“we’re biologically wired to prevent our children’s suffering, and it can be excruciating to watch them struggle,” Shaw writes.
