And sometimes you do everything right and something bad just happens. It's as simple, and as scary, as that.

Life is made up of moments, small pieces of glittering mica in a long stretch of gray cement.

The best thing about Sassy Seats is that grandmothers cannot figure out how they work and are in constant fear of the child's falling. This often makes them forget to comment on other aspects of the child's development, like why he is not yet talking or is still wearing diapers. Some grandmothers will spend an entire meal peering beneath the table and saying, "Is that thing steady?" rather than, "Have you had a doctor look at that left hand?

the separation of church and state grew out of a desire, not so much to protect government from religion, but to protect religion from government.

I did not read from a sense of superiority, or advancement, or even learning. I read because I loved it more than any other activity on earth.

Poor kids are much more likely to become sick than their richer counterparts, but much less likely to have health insurance. Talk about a double whammy.

Keeping kids safe is sometimes a delusion. The world is a perilous place. Sometimes the kitchen is a perilous place.