I don't remember who said this, but there really are places in the heart you don't even know exist until you love a child.

When we did art with the kids, the demons would lie down.

Kids are hard -they drive you crazy and break your heart- whereas grandchildren make you feel great about life, and yourself, and your ability to love someone unconditionally, finally, after all these years.

Every Sunday I nudge Sam in her direction, and he walks to where she is sitting and hugs her. She smells him behind the ears, where he most smells like sweet unwashed new potatoes. This is in fact what I think God may smell like, a young child's slightly dirty neck.

You can’t run alongside your grown children with sunscreen and ChapStick on their hero’s journey.” -- Anne Lamott, “Twelve Truths I Learned from Writing to Life

What people somehow forgot to mention when we were children was that we need to make messes in order to find out who we are and why we are here.

Most marriages are a mess, and the children get caught between two bitter, antagonistic parents. My parents stayed married for 27 unhappy years, till their kids were grown, and this was a catastrophe for us.

The first draft is the child's draft, where you let it all pour out and then let it romp all over the place, knowing that no one is going to see it and that you can shape it later.

Talking to the parents of older kids was helpful for me, since parents of kids the same age as yours won't admit how horrible their children are.