My post yesterday on my relationship with Charlie Brown comics sparked some interesting contestations by Chase Madar and David Auerbach–in the course of a discussion on Facebook. With their permission, I reproduce some of their comments below and follow-up with some brief annotations. First Madar says: I’ve had the exact opposite reaction since reading PeanutsContinue reading “Reading Charlie Brown Comics, Contd.”
Tag Archives: parenting
On Being Traumatized By Charlie Brown Comics
I read many, many Charlie Brown comic books as a child; reading them was a sustained exercise in masochism. I hated them, each and every single page, but I kept on reading, from cover to cover. I would finish one, convinced of the utter, vicious, gratuitous cruelty of the world and its residents, and then,Continue reading “On Being Traumatized By Charlie Brown Comics”
Writing And Therapy
Writing can be therapeutic. Not just autobiography and memoir, the obvious venues of this particular kind of clinic; letters, novels, short stories, poems, screenplays, can all enable a ‘working through‘ because they call upon a kind of ‘remembering,’ a dynamic ‘free association,’ unprompted and unbidden, that trawls through the various levels and layers of ourContinue reading “Writing And Therapy”
The Joys Of Crying
I cry easily; so I cry a lot. Many, many things set me off: movies, songs, talking about my parents, a sportsman’s death, showing my daughter music videos of songs that I listened to as a teenager, Saturn V liftoffs, the misfortune of others in the world’s ‘disaster zones,’ witnessing random acts of kindness onContinue reading “The Joys Of Crying”
On Apologizing To Your Child
On Thursday morning, I inexplicably, irrationally, and ultimately, cruelly, lost my temper at my four-year old daughter; I wanted her to do X; she did not; I thought my request was reasonable; she didn’t think it was; and then, when on my demanding reasons for her decision and denial of my request, she could notContinue reading “On Apologizing To Your Child”
Letting Your Childhood Make Your Parenting Easier
To be a good parent, think like a child. Well, that was deep. Let me see if I can unpack that. First, think like the child you were, or imagine and remember yourself as being; in any case, this is the best you can do. Now, think about what your perception of your parents wasContinue reading “Letting Your Childhood Make Your Parenting Easier”
Parental Anxiety And Its True Subject
In ‘What The Childless Fathers of Existentialism Teach Real Dads‘ John Kaag and Clancy Martin write: Why do we put limits on our children? Why is a daughter not allowed to climb that tree or jump across a river?…Why are neither daughters nor sons allowed to run away? Father knows best….virtually all fathers think thatContinue reading “Parental Anxiety And Its True Subject”
Rediscovering Songs With Children: The Case Of White Rabbit
We like some songs more than others; we play them more often than we do others, wearing out vinyl, styluses, and cassette tapes till we hit the digital. Some songs grow stale; we find them overly familiar; but every once in a while, we return to them, and discover them anew. Sometimes it is becauseContinue reading “Rediscovering Songs With Children: The Case Of White Rabbit”
Drones And The Beautiful World They Reveal
Over the past year or so, I have, on multiple occasions, sat down with my toddler daughter to enjoy BBC’s epic nature documentary series Planet Earth. Narrated by the incomparable David Attenborough, it offers up hour-long packages of visual delight in stunning high-definition: giant waterfalls, towering mountains and icebergs, gigantic flocks of birds, roaring volcanoesContinue reading “Drones And The Beautiful World They Reveal”
On Hoping For The Miracle Of Precocity
A few days ago, I met some neighbors, out for a walk with their son (who was riding in a stroller.) As we chatted, they turned to their son and asked him a question or two. Answers were not forthcoming. They pressed on, but there was no response. These questions were innocent ones: “What numberContinue reading “On Hoping For The Miracle Of Precocity”
Samir Chopra 