No baby shall at any time be quartered in a house where there are no soft laps, no laughter, or no love.

With boys you always know where you stand. Right in the path of a hurricane. It's all there. The fruit flies hovering over their waste can, the hamster trying to escape to cleaner air, the bedrooms decorated in Early Bus Station Restroom.

It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.

My mother phones daily to ask, "Did you just try to reach me?" When I reply no, she adds, "So, if you're not too busy, call me while I'm still alive," . . . and hangs up.

It's [motherhood] the biggest on-the-job- training program in existence today.

I became hysterical and frightened and begged for sedation. And that was just the first prenatal visit.

Kids need love the most when they're acting most unlovable.