She said she felt she was ugly, cause the kids in school made fun of her hair and her teeth… “I think I’m ugly,” she said, and for the instance of that moment, the image of her as a little pig-tailed girl flashed before my eyes.

When did my daughter’s self-esteem start to dwindle?

“You’re not,” I assured her. “And I don’t believe you believe that. Do you?”

She sat quietly. Looking down at her hands, which were tightly gripping the sheets.

I don’t know why I pulled out the book I did from her bookcase—”There’s No Place Like Space.” Reading kept me safe, regardless of what it was. Often, tucked in between pages is where I slept best. Maybe it’ll do the same for her.

“That’s a baby book,” she said.

“I think it’s perfect for right now,” I answered back, with my it’s-my-final-answer tone. I didn’t use it often, but it came handy times like this.

“But there’s lots to discover, and it might be you, who looks up in the sky… and finds something that’s new.” —The Cat in the Hat