Wednesday, September 14, 2011

Real Elsewhere: Maddening

"Raising a child is easily the most maddening thing I've ever done.  It is, of course, also the most rewarding thing I've ever done.  The latter gets a lot of attention - frozen in time and assembled neatly in picture albums, scrapbooks, family stories - while the former, nearly as significant in the big, day-to-day scheme of things, is the subject of only ominous public service announcements and scolding looks from strangers, your parents, and your mate.  Everybody gets mad at their kids; nobody likes to talk about it."

-Greg Knauss' essay Peas and Domestic Tranquility in the anthology Things I Learned About My Dad

1 comment:

  1. Hmmm...perfect for me today. Thanks for sharing. I am in the throes of the most horrible stage of three I could ever have imagined...hitting (me), kicking (me), major screaming (at me). Not only do I get mad, I am really not feeling very fond of her right now. Of course, I can't help but sit back and find all the ways I've totally screwed up and "caused" this somehow. Now, how to try to change it? Any good book suggestions? I'm not handling it very well, I must say, and the yelling just comes right back out at her.

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