Why should our passions for music and writing and sculpture that burned so brightly in adolescence go the way of toys we no longer play with? “I have an English teacher question.” My screen glows with this text from a friend from college, my companion from Adolescent Literature class. “Could you recommend any contemporary novels […]
When do girls start doubting who they are and start believing the words of others? It’s how it should be. Innocence, sincerity, simple. I watch my daughter and her friend do each other’s hair. They are 8 and 9 years old. They haven’t discovered that this classic game of “salon” is a primer for beauty. To […]
Would you dress your son in shirts that said “I’m too handsome to read books, so my sister reads them for me,” and “Future Trophy Husband”? Come with me. Let’s open the door to a parallel universe. You unlock this door with a key of imagination, just like on The Twilight Zone. Here in this parallel […]
If, indeed, we are seeing a rise of Mean Boys who will join the Mean Girls we’ve already heard so much about, what is causing this and how can we change it? When my son was 3, his preschool teacher called me aside to tell me a story. My son went to a tiny school […]
This originally appeared on Arielle Silver’s blog. Republished here with permission. I tuck her in at night. I help her with homework, band aids, and boys. She tells me her dreams. She is my oldest daughter, but I am not her mother. It’s a good name, “middle” school. They’re not quite who they used to […]
