Affection without sentiment, authority without cruelty, discipline without aggression, humor without ridicule, sacrifice without obligation, companionship without possessiveness.

William E. Blatz

I recently had coffee with a Buddhist friend and her very energetic young daughter. While the girl was playing around, she banged her her elbow against a table and started crying. In my family, to console a child, we would have playfully hit the table back and said "bad table". However in the exact same situation, my very wise friend took her child back to table where the little girl said "Sorry table, I hope I didn't hurt you. I promise to be more careful next time".

For my child, the past and future have no significance. He lives entirely in the moment. He doesn't care if I just changed his diaper 20 minutes ago, or I have to be somewhere important in 20 minutes. He is completely in the present, communicating exactly and authentically what he is feeling right now.

Hiccups are a mere annoyance for adults. For babies, they're a violent, body-shaking experience that induces cringes in parents.

I thought that years of international travel had made me a patient person. Then I became a parent and am now learning a whole different level of patience.

Seeing how comfortable a baby is in a warm bath is an amazing thing.