Susan Sontag

Everyone who is born holds dual citizenship, in the kingdom of the well and in the kingdom of the sick.

A writer, like an athlete, must ‘train’ every day. What did I do today to keep in ‘form’?

Susan Sontag lists her 10 rules for raising a child:

• Be consistent.
• Don’t speak about him to others (e.g., tell funny things) in his presence. (Don’t make him self-conscious.)
• Don’t praise him for something I wouldn’t always accept as good.
• Don’t reprimand him harshly for something he’s been allowed to do.
• Daily routine: eating, homework, bath, teeth, room, story, bed.
• Don’t allow him to monopolize me when I am with other people.
• Always speak well of his pop. (No faces, sighs, impatience, etc.)
• Do not discourage childish fantasies.
• Make him aware that there is a grown-up world that’s none of his business.
• Don’t assume that what I don’t like to do (bath, hairwash) he won’t like either.