Author name: Missy Andrews

close up of a judge's gavel

The Quest for Success and “Enoughness” Part 2

Australian author Mem Fox illustrates the effects of the little “l” law in the parent and child relationship in a children’s book entitled Harriet, You’ll Drive Me Wild. With short sentences illustrated by Marla Frazee in pencil and transparent ink, Fox tells the story of young Harriet, whose childish antics exasperate her mother, who “doesn’t like to yell,” by degrees until she reaches the boiling point: “There was a terrible silence. Then Harriet’s mother began to yell. She yelled and yelled and yelled.” I imagine most of us can identify with Harriet’s mom…

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mother's hands cradle baby feet

The Quest for Success and “Enoughness” Part 1

We live in a performance culture. The push to succeed begins in the cradle and dogs us to the grave. Many parents feel this deeply. A recent article I read recounts a sandbox conversation between two moms, one with preschoolers and one who had only recently discovered she was expecting: “You’re expecting?! How wonderful! Now, you’ve registered for pre-school already, right? You’ll need to get right on that. The waiting list is two years at all the right preschools, and if you don’t get into a good one, then any chance of getting into the right prep school is ruined – and if you don’t get him into the right prep school, then he’ll never get into a good college. And if he doesn’t get into the right college, he’ll never be successful and his life will be over…” – before it starts?! The poor kid’s life was mapped out, and he wasn’t even born yet – not to mention the mom’s life. She’d already failed and she hadn’t even begun…

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picture of Andrews family from 1998 with children huddled around Missy reading

The History of Us

When my kiddos were between the ages of 2 and 11, and the basket beside our fireplace burgeoned with library books, a good friend from church set me a task: How can a homeschool mom with a bundle of children (and all the work that comes along with them) go about teaching the classics, especially if she didn’t get a great books education herself? At the time, my own six children were reading the “good books;” the great books were yet before them…

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still image from Disney's A Wrinkle in Time

Deconstructing A Wrinkle in Time

“The resonant voice rose and the words seemed to be all around them so that Meg felt that she could almost reach out and touch them: ‘Sing to the Lord a new song, his praise from the end of the earth, ye who go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof. Let the wilderness and the cities thereof lift their voice; let the inhabitants of the rock sing, let them shout from the top of the mountains. Let them give glory unto the Lord!”…

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woman anxiously biting pencil in front of laptop

On “Getting the Right Answers” to Socratic Questions

One of my favorite, daily tasks at CenterForLit is answering emails from parents and educators who write with questions about literature and homeschooling. I look forward to these conversations, albeit virtual, because I remember the isolation endemic in much of my own homeschooling work. Taking on the monolithic task of educating any child in the face of armies of educators in the public and private educational sector, all of whom bear degrees and expertise in their single fields, requires a great deal of confidence, which many call temerity…

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silhouette covering face with hands

On Faith, Hope, and Fear

January and February were difficult months for us Andrews types. The new year brought with it two car accidents, a health drama, and a broken furnace in the coldest week of the season. I would love to report that we handled it all with faces “set like flint,” hearts full of faith and unflappable confidence in God’s goodness, but that wouldn’t be honest. Instead, we hunkered down, forgetting our responsibilities, alternately trembling and petitioning God for relief… 

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woman browsing shelves of home library

How Then Shall We Read? – An Apology for Literary Analysis

Much has been made in recent years of the prime opportunity childhood presents to shape lifetime readers. Reading aloud, in particular, is the word on the street where methodology is concerned. With videos and entertainment on the cultural rise, parents no longer have the luxury of throwing a book at a child and hoping it will “take.” Now, they must read it to them, guide them, captivate, and verily, enchant them into the magical kingdom of imaginative literature. Certainly, reading aloud may perform this function and a multitude of others that prove equally valuable…

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looking through kitchen door at night

Nightlights and Night Watches: The Unifying Experience of Literature

Two in the morning might just be the loneliest time. The house lies still; only my thoughts run. Lists of what I have done and what I must do alternately congratulate and accuse me, while instant replays of the previous day’s conversations play on my mind’s screen. Soon enough, I flee my bed for the solace of my living room chair. Here I sit in a pool of light with only Marilynne Robinson for company, and one could do worse to chase away night demons… 

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shadow of man over prison bars

A Reason for the Pain: Dostoevsky’s Answer to the Problem of Pain in “The Brothers Karamazov”

“In sorrow, seek happiness.” So says Father Zossima in The Brothers Karamazov, Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky’s literary homage to the problem of pain and suffering. A murder mystery extraordinaire, this novel traces the history of one Ivan Karamazov, eldest brother of the Karamazovs and an intellectual humanist. Frustrated by the problem of evil and its implications regarding the nature of God and His posture toward man, Ivan conceives of atheism as a kind of work around…

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bookstore over-crowded with books

Of Lists and Laws: Busy Lives and Back-to-School Plans

August is upon us, and if you’re anything like me, in addition to the sunshine and heat, it brings with it a crushing realization that the long list of summer to-dos that we penned with great hope in late May is not going to be accomplished. Mine sits before me, a glaring accusation. Where did the time go? The bathroom with 18-year-old wallpaper I was going to re-decorate, the vanity I was going to refinish, the pictures I was going to rescue from the vaults of my computer and finally frame on my walls, the books I was going to read, the coffee dates I was going to have with neglected friends and family, all of these proclaim my insufficiency…

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