there’s magic in the climb

I’m reminded of a conversation that I had on an airplane one time when I was flying solo with my two older kids, in Katie’s absence. As I struggled alone with snacks and diapers and keeping everyone buckled up, an elderly man behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Enjoy this. Right now, at their age, it’s all physical. Later, parenting beco

The parents are like—‘That’s my boy. Look at him.’ That’s what changes them. Not me telling them this is what is going to be good for your kid…. The only thing that actually changes the parents is seeing their own kids do something without them watching or helping…. People have to see it to believe it. See their kid blossom. And afterward they can’

Parents must rear their children toward that one day when the child begins to seek his or her freedom, when the insect, whether an ugly moth or a beautiful butterfly, seeks to abandon the cocoon. During the years between infancy and adolescence, the winning argument will have already been made. The winning argument will have been love; the losing a

Parenting is hard; it’s relentless. It doesn’t give you any space. And I know that he has a point. We can’t fit into our house as it is. We can’t afford it. He’s right. But none of those arguments take away these feelings that I need to mother a baby again.’