Decisions about children and their happiness

[msagara]

If you’ve been reading these posts for the last week, you know that my intention was to write two posts. The first, about help, I did write. The second, I still haven’t written. This is very much in keeping with the way I write anything. I have a general idea. I put the words on the screen. And then other words arise out of interaction, and, well

Comments

[trektone]

Happy Anniversary!

And ... Harvey!

[msagara]

And ... Harvey!

I know :). We got to hear someone in the audience say “who is that kid? He’s brilliant!” because, of course, they had never heard my son talk casually.

[drenilop]

Michelle, I love these posts. I don't yet have kids, let alone a special needs one, but my spouse and I are both the over-thinking, overly rational types who also need these kinds of rules and decisions to be laid out out ahead of time. And it's not inconceivable that we'll have kids who also require that kind of framework to be happy and successful. (You're talking to the girl who demanded, at age 6, that her parents provide a systematic rule for which grownups were Mr. and Mrs and which could be first names.) But these posts are really helping my husband and I prepare to parent for ourselves. They're raising good questions and showing us how other intelligent, rational, concerned parents do things. You're giving us an inside look at things that most of us never hear or get to ask others until it's too late. And it's an incredibly valuable service. Most people who take an approach like this don't have the writing skills or the audience to share their experiences in such a compelling way

[msagara]

I really do hope you plan to publish these somehow. You've put too much energy and thought into them to let them languish in the blog-stratosphere.

All of the fun parts are writing it; all of the un-fun parts would be massaging the posts, which are often a little rambling, into a single, cohesive shape.

Many of the columns come out of my reading of other people’s responses and thinking about their various takes on things, so the whole is shaped by a community, if that makes sense?

[mizkit]

I'm not entirely certain you don't already have cohesive shape to the whole series of posts, but I'm being brave and holding off saying "god, try to get this published!" until you're done writing them all. Or have a book's worth, anyway :)

[drenilop]

"Or have a book's worth, anyway :)"

Noooooooo!! Are you really telling *Michelle* to wait until she has a book's worth?!?!?! Do you KNOW how long Michelle's books usually are?!?!?!? I'd settle for a novella!

[chomiji]

Happy anniversary!

And it's awesome that he was the lead in the play!

[msagara]

Thank you :). We had a lovely dinner, and watched the first episode of the BBC Sherlock, season 2.

[tekalynn]

Happy anniversary!

Your posts really move me with their clarity and compassion. Thank you for writing them.

[msagara]

Thanks :).

And also, thank you. I’ve noticed on posts like these - as opposed to my more heated and intemperate rants, I often get far fewer comments, so it is nice to know that people are reading them.

[msss]

Oh, we're reading them. At least, I am. :)

I find them full of fascinating insights, perhaps because I'm not planning to bring up a child any time soon. And thus possibly never.

[msss]

Also, happy anniversary!

[controuble]

Happy Anniversary!

And thank you for another make-me-think post.