A Childless Bystander’s Baffled Hymn – this piece by Frank Bruni is both laugh-out-loud hilarious and deeply, pointedly true. “They are toddlers, not Pakistan,” he points out, and asks, crucially, why our generation seems to think that this parenting effort is fraught with brand-new dangers and worries instead of one shared by centuries of humans. Bruni made me think of my father’s oft-repeated adage to my sister and me, which I loathed as a child but find brilliant now: “You must be mistaking this for a democracy.” Ultimately, I think his conclusion, which meshes with my belief that children are north of 80% nature instead of nurture, is tremendously liberating. Just love them. And give them boundaries. Maybe it’s that simple?
When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice – this book by Terry Tempest Williams just blew me away. What an outrageously beautiful meditation on speaking out and staying silent, on the power of the natural world, and on the endless, complicated, echoing ways the mother-daughter relationship twists through all our days. I loved it.
On Being Lost and Found – Ali Edwards’ lovely words on reclaiming herself, on wanting to live the length and the width of her life, really resonated with me. As I wrote in my comment, for me the question is always: how do I reconcile the desire to reclaim something that was with the reality that sometimes we, and our lives, change in permanent ways?
Inhabiting a Moment – I love everything Katrina writes, that’s no secret. But this post, about “the flotsam and jetsam that add up to days lived,” about the value and importance of recording the smallest details of an ordinary moment … well, it leveled me. Just: yes.
Reasons My Son is Crying – This tumblr of pictures and captions reminds me of Honest Toddler with its hilarious rendering of the sometimes-absurd nature of life with small children. So, so, so funny.
Lululemon studio pants – this has been a very busy week for me at work, and I’ve barely left my desk, let alone my house. I have also basically not taken these pants off.
I write these round-ups of things I love lately about once a month. They are all compiled here.
What are you reading, listening to, watching, and thinking about these days?
I have loved the conversations surrounding Bruni’s article. There have been some great responses on the Huffington Post. I know that some people are annoyed that Bruni isn’t a parent or think that he somehow seems judgmental or self-righteous. I didn’t think that at all. Sometimes it takes an “outside observer” to a particular world to make the clearest observations.
I agree with you, but definitely have seen many of those I love and respect the most having a different reaction. One thing’s for sure: he touched a nerve!
Well, I’ve long wanted to be Terry Tempest Williams when I grow up. As an observer and chronicler and thinker.
I think that the thing I most appreciate from the Bruni piece, and the subsequent dust ups, is the idea that there are perspectives other than our own. It’s so easy to believe that everyone is seeing you through the same heavily flawed veil that we insist on using. We aren’t so much lacking and failing as we are over-thinking and obsessing.
Sometimes 😉
Love the Bruni article and the Tumblr photos — thanks Lindsey!