Don't stand unmoving outside the door of a crying baby whose only desire is to touch you. Go to your baby. Go to your baby a million times. Demonstrate that people can be trusted, that the environment can be trusted, that we live in a benign universe.

The way we talk to our children becomes their inner voice.

It's okay to ask for help. It takes a village to raise a child. Trying to be supermom will burn you out quickly.

It may be that mothers have a hard time discerning between when sons need comforting and when they need bucking up. Here's a rule of thumb: If he hasn't faced the trial yet, or he's in the midst of it - encourage him. If he's been to the wars and is limping home wounded - comfort him. Once the wounds are bound up, encourage him to rise and face the fight again.

Let your children nourish their knack, for that knack shall one day provide them with the way to live with dignity and contentment.

Human making is our mission.