Gentle AND Smart

My child [let's call him Sprout to protect his tiny identity] is cute and very smart, but he is in the pinching phase. We keep asking him to "be gentle" instead of pinching. The other day, I said "Sprout, it is as important to be gentle as it is to be smart." And then I thought, yes, this is exactly it.

In my family, smart is very important, and by extension, "stupid" is a very ugly word indeed. Sometimes, in my high-speed quest for smart, I overlook the gentle and the tender. I think motherhood has been good for me. Perhaps it will make me a gentler librarian.

Not that smart is a bad thing. Am very proud of tiny Sprout who can now say "zucchini", "laundry", and "strawberry". As long as he doesn't pinch me while he's being so clever.