Studying their families, I gradually recognized that all parenting is guesswork, and that difference of any kind, positive or negative, makes the guessing harder. That insight has largely shaped me as a father. I don’t think I would love my children more if they could play Rachmaninoff’s Third, and I hope I wouldn’t love them less for having that consuming skill, any more than I would if they were affected with a chronic illness. But I am frankly relieved that so far, they show no such uncanny aptitude.
Excellently written article. I'm definitely going to order his book next payday. Here's the amazon link if anyone is interested -
http://www.amazon.com/Far-From-Tree...778547&sr=8-1&keywords=far+from+the+treeWhat a lovely and TRUE quote. I've seen both sides of this, and it's true that the sheer uncertainty of parenting "on the fringes" leaves ordinarily decisive and assertive people quivering and wilting like cotton candy in a thunderstorm.
EVERYONE has an opinion-- and most of those opinions are twofold:
a) I'm sure glad that it isn't me/I sure wish that it were me.
b) you're doing it ALL WRONG. Oh, and you're screwing your kid up for life. This is a peculiar thing about anything which is more-or-less an invisible difference-- nobody thinks twice about telling you that YOU are the one "making" your child so non-normative.
