Today I had tea with a new friend and her young son. Seeing him climbing all over her, and watching her holding him close made me remember the oldest cliche in the book--how fast the time raising children goes. With two kids about to head off to college, it is not so hard to remember those days of early risings, snack, and nap. It is also amazing to realize how distinct and powerful a child's will can be even at the beginning.
In my latest fiction I am exploring the early formation of personality. Erik Erikson sees the first stage of human growth as the choice between trust and mistrust, calling it "the cornerstone of a vital personality." It was easy to see how much this young boy trusted his mother, and how primal that act must be. Another one of my favorite novelists, Jhumpa Lahiri describes "writing stories" as "one of the most assertive things a person can do. Fiction is an act of willfulness, a deliberate attempt to reconceive, to rearrange, to reconstitute nothing short of reality itself. During these hot summer days, I am translating my experience of the world onto the page, a freedom I am treasuring.
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