Imagine If You Succeeded In Making The

It's Sad But True That If You Focus Your Attention On Housework And Meal Preparation And Diapers, Raising Children Does Start To Look Like Drudgery Pretty Quickly. On The Other Hand, If You See Yourself As Nothing Less Than Your Child's Nurturer, Role Model, Teacher, Spiritual Guide, And Mentor, Your Days Take On A Very Different Cast.

The Big Dramas That Fascinate Me Are The Quiet Ones That Happen Behind Closed Doors In So-called Ordinary Families.

I Have No Doubt That Over The Years My Children Will Find Plenty Of Things About Me To Criticize. But Something Tells Me That Twenty Years From Now Not One Of Them Will Sit On Some Therapist's Couch Complaining Because Their Mother Didn't Spend Enough Time Vacuuming Up Glitter.

Long After Salinger Sent Me Away, I Continued To Believe His Standards And Expectations Were The Best Ones.

Growing Up In The Fifties And Sixties, I Can Only Remember Knowing One Child, Ever, Whose Parents Got A Divorce, And Hardly Any Whose Mother "worked" At Anything Besides Raising Her Children.