[T]here is an inverse correlation between the cleanliness of a bathroom and my 3-year-old daughter's need to move her bowels. - Ayelet Waldman

Why are the architects of the family-values agenda so eager to punish into the next generation? What is being served by seeking, quite literally, a tooth for a tooth?

Those of us whose parenting style can be described as "a series of reflexes, instincts, and minute-by-minute adjustments," as Julie of A Little Pregnant puts it, rather than as a philosophy, are less invested in our own practices. What we do is often less a matter of conviction than one of convenience. What we need to remember is that there is no need to apologize for that, even in the face of the most red-faced outrage.

[W]hatever my intentions, whatever the truth of my claim, I had no business giving a lecture to a total stranger.