Kids are resilient, and parents are people. Those are the two fundamental premises of the “Mother, May I? Children” chapter of Miss Conduct’s Mind over Manners. I’ve heard from a number of moms that they liked this chapter a lot, which really pleases me. On all the other topics–food, money, religion, relationships, health, pets–I’ve got some personal skin in the game. This was the one chapter for which that isn’t the case. So thank you, all you parents and readers, for schooling me!