Nothing's scarier than having a sick child, and one so newly born, and so vulnerable. It's the worst thing for a parent.

In parenting patience is the greatest virtue.

Not everyone knows how to be a good parent. Not everyone knows the right things to do or the right things to say. We are all just doing the best we can with the tools we were given. What matters is that we educate ourselves and keep doing our best.

The baby was warm against my chest. I knew I was broken too. I wasn't like other people. I was scared and weird and anxious and sad lots of the time, and I didn't know why. My parents thought I was abnormal, I was pretty sure. They said I wasn't, but you don't get sent to a therapist if you're normal.

Sometimes we really aren't supposed to be the way we are. It's not good for us. And people don't like it. You've got to change. You've got to try harder and do deep breathing and maybe one day take pills and learn tricks so you can pretend to be more like other people. Normal people. But maybe Vanessa was right, and all those other people were broken too in their own ways. Maybe we all spent too much time pretending we weren't.

Force your kids to pursue success and they shall be drowned into the abyss of characterlessness, but let them pursue excellence and they shall rise as glorious Gods.

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