Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card

Always a real classic for me, I finally got to read Ender's Game today. This book always speaks to be about the power of children when they are not underrated and restrained, as well as the preciousness of a childhood. The first idea is one that I felt keenly when I was a child and teenager; if only they didn't hold me back.. oh what I could have done!

But it's the preciousness of childhood that speaks most to me these days. I spent almost two decades in therapy, patching myself and my life back together after an emotionally and sexually abusive childhood. And now... now I yearn for that lost innocence of childhood; and I feel very strongly about letting children be children. I have very little patience for parents telling me, "But my child is my best friend!" It's not appropriate for your children to be your friends. You might be one of their friends, but don't saddle them by treating them as adults. Get your own friends, someone(s) who is your peer.

Which brings us to my quote for today, as one of the children in Ender's Game bemoans the loss of that innocent childhood:

"I can't do a weekly column," Valentine said. "I don't even have a monthly period yet."