parenting 17

So I'm wondering where the spirit of the American pioneer, where the culture of the can-do man has gone?

Like the very young and the very old among us, we must forget the learned delusion of independence that revolution prefers and accept the radical dependence of the human condition.

So whatever value motherhood gets assigned on earth, it’s pretty clear what position it holds on high. You may feel invisible here, but you certainly aren’t in Heaven.

A machine can read books out loud to the baby. A machine can rock the baby to sleep. Smart devices and apps can do these and many other things. But…

What this means is death. When our kids were little, parenting meant death to my independence: my time, my space, my very body, were no longer my own. Parenting meant…

Why does my third child, my little son whom I mention above, need me to be in physical contact with him while he reads? Because it helps him feel warm…

In a perfect world, our children would romp out the door after completing their chores and their schoolwork (we homeschool) and knock politely at their best friend’s door, who lived…

All of parenting is risky because nothing is more important to us than our children. And the decisions we make do matter, sometimes greatly. But if we allow risk to…

I didn’t intend to welcome two children into an era marked by so much bleakness and turmoil. With James’s help, I’ve remembered that there is no project more local, no…

At age 12, our daughter discovered that our front yard could be more than a place to turn cartwheels. It was also an evergreen source of income. I’d gladly pay…

"Therefore, it is clear that the care of the household concerns human beings more than material property..." Aristotle, Politics "Here Aristotle infers that the chief aim of [parents] concerns these…

“That day when Turnus raised the flag of war… The high commanders… From every quarter drew repeated levies And laid the wide fields waste of their field hands.” Virgil, The…

“Fleecy sheep are weighed down with wool, and women bear children who resemble their fathers.” Hesiod, Works and Days In describing “a city that prospers,” Hesiod points to something rather…

“For the begetter is the ruler by reason of love and age…” Aristotle, Politics Perhaps we do not normally think of parents as rulers. Aristotle did. He seems to think…

“…and when anything needs doing it ought not to be left undone, whether it be day or night. There are occasions when a householder should rise while it is still…

Holland, MI. Like many readers, or perhaps more accurately, like many readers with children, I read with great interest Mark Mitchell’s piece on “Cultivating Gratitude.” As the father of three…

RINGOES, NJ. You’ve seen the commercials.A middle-aged couple drops their son off at college. As they drive away, nest now empty, they feign sorrow. Quickly, though, their mournful countenances are…