Carolyn Hax Quotes
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No matter what else comes, your courage will be your companion for life.
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Awkwardness is when there's a risk of a perception gap between what you mean and what you appear to mean.
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There's nothing wrong with being happy somewhere, even if it's the little pond you grew up in, as long as you are in fact comfortable vs. bored.
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The only answer that has any chance against against the information saturation kids face these days is to talk openly with kids, early enough and often enough and unflinchingly enough that you set the precedent of being the safe place they can go to ask their difficult questions. It has to happen starting when they're 2 or 3, and they ask you where babies come from and instead of freaking out and deflecting, you give facts commensurate with their ability to understand.
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It's probably good for your body and brain to get moving occasionally.
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Don't freight your answers with any notions of what you're "supposed" to do, and just see where your feelings point you. It can feel weird to be so formal about it, but if you're not used to doing it, then there's no shame in retraining yourself.
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Plan your own vacations when you want to, and plan a suitable combined vacation with this other family when you want to. If they freak out at your planning your own vacations as you see fit, then let them. Bowing to unreasonable demands because someone will make you pay emotionally if you don't is not a healthy option.
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If you are being shuffled around, then you should feel shuffled around.
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I believe in innocence until there's proof of guilt and all that.
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Once given, a gift is yours to use, store or dispose of as you see fit.
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Separation is where you see if it works better with the adults in two different homes.
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Live in the moment, this moment, your moment. That is by far and without meaningful rival The Best Position to put yourself in to discover and delight in who your children turn out to be, whoever they turn out to be.
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You don't want to be with someone who is already not getting from you what he needs emotionally.
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Some people can work amid chaos or conversations, and some can't - and while there's no doubt an element of brain wiring to it, there's also the possibility of acquiring skills that improve your focus.
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A lot of support gets withheld out of fear of awkwardness and misspeaking.
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And if you're a parent who thinks you're okay because your kid doesn't have a phone or iPod yet, and/or you've used all the parent controls to filter out explicit material, you're not okay. The filters are tissue paper and your kid without a phone is on a school bus or in a locker room or at a public park with phone-equipped kids every day. And they're like all kids in exploring - by whatever means available to them - exactly what their parents are treating as too embarrassing or taboo to talk about.
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All of us assign different values to things, and not all of those values are going to line up with others'.
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Being negative is easy. There will always be a downside to everything good, a hurdle to everything desirable, a con to every pro. The real courage is in finding the good in what you have, the opportunities in every hurdle, the pros in every con.
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You need to make plans for your future, so plan your own future.
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I'm sure there are people who can toggle quickly from all-in caregiving to structured socializing, but I can't think of any offhand.
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I have no quarrel with people who lack the skill or temperament to care for small children.
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When you fail to see something, that doesn't mean I'm hiding it.
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Make sure you have legal cover for what you're doing.
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For some people, the better route for finding like-minded parents is just to get out of your house with your baby and frequent baby-friendly places.
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You don't want someone who can't tell the difference between having a different opinion and dismissing your opinion.
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Almost no one can take on an entire future in one step, much less while reeling emotionally.
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There is a connection between environment and stress on both ends, with excessive clutter and excessive attention to detail both holding the power to distract us from our ability to love fully, work productively and relax effectively. So, what makes sense to me is for each of us to think this through on a few fronts: what constitutes a comfortable environment for us, how much effort we're willing to put into it relative to other priorities, and how well-matched we need our partners' preferences to be to ours.
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Moving is hard. Staying is easy. Logistically speaking, at least. And this is true whether you're doing or undoing something.
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When people get more frustrated by their indecision than by the situation that prompted it, clarity often follows.
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We all make deals with ourselves when it comes to the difficult people in our lives.
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