Motherhood: Specific, Essential, Irreplaceable
Certain subjects bring probing insights that defy partisanship or cultural divides. One such subject is motherhood. Even for the thorough-going progressive, the […]
George Eliot’s “Middlemarch” and the Beautifully Forgettable Mother
Middlemarch is an interwoven narrative of many lives, intertwining and developing over decades. George Eliot’s perhaps best-known work, the book offers much […]
Hope in Action or No Hope At All
“Hope” is the thing with feathers – That perches in the soul – And sings the tune without the words – And […]
No Substitute for Real Children
Few are the people who outright state that they dislike children. There are misanthropes willing to despise what they once were, but […]
Extravagance: an Essential Ingredient for Life
Betty Smith includes many memorable details of the life Francie Nolan growing up in poverty and instability in “A Tree Grows in […]
Annie Sullivan and Helen Keller: Education Is Always Individual
Annie Sullivan is remembered as the “Miracle Worker” who brought communication to Helen Keller who was deaf and blind. Sullivan displayed commitment […]
“Tell Me a Story”: Persistent Children and the Serious Fun of Storytelling
Children often possess a vivacity that is bewildering to the adult. In the humdrum of the everyday, this vivacity can be mistaken […]
The Two Worst Things That Can Happen to a Child
Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Gardenis now considered a children’s story, but the work originally appeared as a serial for adult readers. […]
Practically Speaking: To Reclaim Order Begin with the Kitchen Sink
In the vicissitudes of life, there are patterns of accumulating order and destruction at play in every stage. Forever forward progress in […]
Teaching By Example: Does it Actually Work?
Childrearing is often treated in our culture as a competitive sport. Parents become overinvolved coaches running drills. The relationship between parent and […]