Reading is the unbelievably healthy way _x000D_ my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. _x000D_ Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it's a way to _x000D_ make contact with reality after a day of making things up.
With any child entering adolescence, one hunts for signs of health, is desperate for the smallest indication that the child's problems will never be important enough for a television movie.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Parents are anxious about their children's well-being during adolescence, hoping for signs that they will navigate this period without significant issues.
This quote reflects the deep concern parents have as their children transition into adolescence. It highlights the hopes and fears that accompany this pivotal stage in development, where parents search for reassurance that their children will avoid serious emotional or social problems that could lead to drama, even to the point of being featured in sensational media. The mention of television movies underscores the societal anxiety surrounding the struggles of youth and the wish for a smoother path for their children.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a parenting seminar, a speaker might use this quote to discuss the challenges of raising adolescents.
More from Nora Ephron
All quotes βReading makes me feel I've accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. ... Reading is bliss.
I just want to go on making movies, and some of them will be completely meaningless, except, of course, to me.
Every so often I would look at my women friends who were happily married and didn't cook, and I would always find myself wondering how they did it. Would anyone love me if I couldn't cook? I always thought cooking was part of the package: Step right up, it's Rachel Samstat, she's bright, she's funny and she can cook!
Marriages come and go, but divorce is forever.
What I love about cooking is that after a hard day, there is something comforting about the fact that if you melt butter and add flour and then hot stock, it will get thick! It's a sure thing! It's a sure thing in a world where nothing is sure; it has a mathematical certainty in a world where those of us who long for some kind of certainty are forced to settle for crossword puzzles.
Similar quotes
The baby boomers owe a big debt of gratitude to the parents and grandparents - who we haven't given enough credit to anyway - for giving us another generation.
From morning till night, sounds drift from the kitchen, most of them familiar and comforting. . . . On days when warmth is the most important need of the human heart, the kitchen is the place you can find it; it dries the wet sock, it cools the hot little brain.
I want to give my kids the world, but I also want them to appreciate everything, to succeed, to be good people, to enjoy life. This is my most important role. If I fail at this, I fail at everything.
I just sit there and make up songs and sing to [my son] in gibberish. I'm very good at gibberish now.
My mother never watched me train in Romania. She wasn't allowed, it just wasn't done back then. My training was paid for by the government. My parents were not at the Olympics with me, either. I never expected them to be.
That's the nature of being a parent, Sabine has discovered. You'll love your children far more than you ever loved your parents, and -- in the recognition that your own children cannot fathom the depth of your love -- you come to understand the tragic, unrequited love of your own parents.