Category: children

  • Be brave

    Rebekah Taussig wonders how to teach her son to be true to himself. In the May 24/May 31 issue of Time magazine, she writes, “How do I teach him to be brave? To hold on to himself when the opinions of others are loud and everywhere.”

  • Children in-person

    Letters and cards are great. Phone calls are better. FaceTime and Zoom visits are wonderful. However, on Mother’s Day last year, I was miles from both of my children. This year, I spent Saturday, the day before Mother’s Day, with Jay and Rachel in Tulsa. Then, I got up early on Mother’s Day and drove…

  • A book for Mother’s Day

    I just remembered a delightful children’s book called The Mother’s Day Mice. It’s a story by Eve Bunting about three mice children who decide to look for a present for their mother. One suggests a rock. Another suggests a daisy. “They’re nice, but not special enough for this special day,” says Little Mouse. Finally, Biggest…

  • Inherently good

    “People at birth are inherently good,” says Chloe Zaho, the filmmaker. I am reminded of my friend who teaches courses in child development. Once, when we were talking about a politician who had done somethings we thought were reprehensible, she said, “I wonder about his childhood.” –Joy

  • A little TV in your head

    I remember when my daughter Mary Elizabeth read lots of Beverly Cleary books. I was sad when I heard that Cleary died recently, but I smiled when I read an obituary that mentioned a letter one girl wrote to the author. Reading, the girl wrote, is “like having a little television set in your head.”…

  • Rich in patience

    If Shakespeare is right, I am rich—rich in patience, at least. “How poor are they who have not patience!” Shakespeare once said. I thought that I had learned patience—after decades of marriage and two children. But, this pandemic is making me much more patient. –Joy

  • Learning patience

    My son Jay and his wife Rachel, who got married last year, are in the process of buying a new house. They called this afternoon to tell us that they were getting impatient waiting for their realtor to call. “Do you know what will teach you patience?” I asked them. “Marriage?” my son answered. I…

  • Dream with ambition

    Kamala Harris, the first woman vice president, told girls –and boys—to dream with ambition and lead with conviction. “But while I may be the first woman in this office, I will not be the last, because every little girl watching tonight sees that this is a country of possibilities,” Kamala Harris said. “And to the…

  • A child at Christmas

    “We are better throughout the year for having, in spirit, become a child again at Christmas-time,” Laura Ingalls Wilder once said.

  • Remembering Tomie de Paola

    My son Jay, who just got married, is 30, but I will always remember the day a long time ago when we met Tomie de Paola at a Dallas bookstore. Jay was impressed because he liked de Paola’s book The Art Lesson, which tells how the author received a box of 64 crayons for his…