Stories We Tell Ourselves
"He said he had been listening to a symphony, and it was absolutely glorious music, and at the very end... there was a dreadful screeching sound... He added, really quite emotionally, 'It ruined the whole experience.' But it hadn't. What it had ruined was the memory of the experience... He had had twenty minutes of glorious music. They counted for nothing..." -- Daniel Kahneman, TED2010
Read MoreRespecting My Kids: Feelings
"Parents… fear that by giving a name to the feeling, they’ll make it worse. Just the opposite is true. The child who hears the words for what he [or she] is experiencing is deeply comforted. Someone has acknowledged his [or her] inner experience.” Adele Faber & Elaine Mazlish, How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk
Read MoreHappy Fathers Day to the Daddy in Our World
"Dad, I loved when you helped me learn to ride my two-wheeler. I love when you help me when I'm sad... and when you let me go to the tot lot..." Rachel, age 6
"My Dad, Jeffrey Knaub: I love you because you wrestle me... you help me roller blade... you help me up if I fall... you make me feel happy, loved, and excited... you let me eat potato chips..." Clara, age 9
Self-Harm: It Makes Sense
"For a burn or a cut might be shown, might be nursed, might scar or heal... would anyway be there, on the surface of her body, rather than corroding it from within." Sarah Waters, The Night Watch
“My head was full of wild ambitious urges to hurt myself... I wanted my interior pain out in my body... I wanted this vague pain to be specific. That’s how I explain it.” Charles Baxter, The Feast of Love
Respecting My Kids: The Case Against Spanking Children
“A person's a person, no matter how small.” Dr. Seuss, Horton Hears a Who!
"Elizabeth Gershoff... has been studying corporal punishment for 15 years, and is known as the leading researcher on spanking in the United States today... 'There's no study that I've ever done that's found a positive consequence of spanking,' Gershoff said." Sarah Kovac, CNN