Sunday, March 13, 2011

Beauty is power; a smile is its sword

I’m starting to see how a baby’s mood can influence the mood in the house and even in my own head. When Violet is happy and generous with her smiles, things are good. When she is upset, it’s hard to think of anything else. My cousin, a man’s man if there ever was one, told me that when his six-year daughter is mad at him, he can’t get anything else done until he is back in her good graces. Recently, he had to scold her about something and, it being a school night, she had to go to bed before they made up. “I couldn’t get a wink of sleep,” he told me. “It just kept eating at me. I almost woke her up just so I could take care of it.”  I wonder if I’ll be the same way – or if I’ll take it too far, letting her get away with murder to avoid upsetting her. I can’t imagine that I will; being a teacher, I can appreciate how when it comes to discipline, a little unpleasantness in the present is beneficial in the long run. At least, that’s how I work it in my classroom. I can imagine that when it comes to Violet, my willpower will be more at issue.

113 days old

The title of this post is a quote from Charles Reade (June 8, 1814 - April 11, 1884), an English novelist and dramatist, best known for The Cloister and the Hearth.

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