Today the world changes so quickly that in growing up we take leave not just of youth but of the world we were young in.... Fear a...nd resentment of what is new is really a lament for the memories of our childhood.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Important as fathers are, their influence on children shouldn't be exaggerated just because they were ignored so long. There is no... evidence that there is something especially good about fathers as caretakers. There are no areas where it can be said that fathers must do certain things in order to achieve certain outcomes in children. The same goes for mothers.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
It was the world of Southern, rural, black growing up, of folks sitting on porches day and night, of folks calling your mama, 'cau...se you walked by and didn't speak, and of the switch waiting when you got home so that you could be taught some manners. It was a world of single black older women schoolteachers, dedicated, tough; they had taught your mama, her sisters, and her friends. They knew your people in ways that you never would and shared their insight, keeping us in touch with generations. It was a world where we had a history.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing, All alone stood it and the moss hung down from the branches,... Without any companion it grew there uttering joyous leaves of dark green, And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself, But I wonder'd how it could utter joyous leaves standing alone there without its friend near, for I knew I could not,LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Stupid or smart, there wasn't much choice about what was going to happen to me ... Growing up was like falling into a hole.... I m...ight not quit school, not while Mama had any say in the matter, but what difference would that make? What was I going to do in five years? Work in the textile mill? Join Mama at the diner? It all looked bleak to me. No wonder people got crazy as they grew up.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
Some parents feel that if they introduce their children to alcohol gradually in the home environment, the children will learn to u...se alcohol in moderation. I'm not sure that's such a good idea. First of all, alcohol is not healthy for the growing child. Second, introducing alcohol to a child suggests that you condone drinking--even to the point where you want to teach your child how to drink.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
We are no longer in a state of growth; we are in a state of excess. We are living in a society of excrescence.... The boil is grow...ing out of control, recklessly at cross purposes with itself, its impacts multiplying as the causes disintegrate.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »
When I was growing up I used to think that the best thing about coming from Des Moines was that it meant you didn't come from anyw...here else in Iowa. By Iowa standards, Des Moines is a mecca of cosmopolitanism, a dynamic hub of wealth and education, where people wear three-piece suits and dark socks, often simultaneously.LESSATTRIBUTION DETAIL »