A Child’s Morning Ritual

Nothing in the world is more important to me than children. I was in the middle of the day’s essay when I got an email firming up a request I received a couple of days ago. A reader, R.S., asked me if I would share thoughts on child-rearing in a specific situation. I asked for details:

“The specific struggles seem to me to revolve around anxiety — the child’s anxiety about social interactions with peers and finding her place in the world. Peer pressure, trying to be in with the “popular” ones, beginning to struggle as the school demands become non-trivial and suddenly one is challenged to learn to learn.

Another source of anxiety that she’s extra vulnerable to thinking badly of her own body due to both health challenges and the hormonal fluctuations when puberty is right around the corner.

It seemed to me that your methods of working with your child would assist in building that secure sense of “I am enough” that I wish for her.

Offering to write something to my prompt, above and beyond my expectations. BTW, I just signal boosted your essay on cinema, race, and survival in the XXX community chat.

Thank you again.

R.”

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The girl in question is ten years old. All right. Some thoughts, based on my own experience and perspective.

1. Anxiety is of course a variety of fear. The primary emotions are fear and love, and enough of one destroys or transforms the other…