Global Arts

(Briana Orr photo credit)

by Masha Hamilton

Not long after the second of my three children was born, I sat at the kitchen table late one evening talking to my dad about parental responsibility. It’s a big topic and we were covering lots of philosophical ground, but what I remember most is my pronouncement that my primary job could be boiled down quite simply and starkly: I had to keep safe these beings released into my charge. I needed to keep them alive.

These were the musings of a new parent, of course. The circumstances, too, should be considered; the first child had been born in Jerusalem during the intefadeh, and the second was born as I was reporting from Moscow during the collapse of Communism. In both situations, I repeatedly came face-to-face with life’s fragility.

But even in calmer times, even after the birth of my third child, I never lost the feeling that my main duty was to pass them on into adulthood as unscathed as possible, as healthy in every way as they could be.

It sounds pretty simple, on the face of it. We perform many jobs as parents: nurturers, playmates, cheerleaders, short-order cooks, nurses, disciplinarians, detectives, spiritual leaders. Keeping them safe should not be the hardest, not with the help of baby monitors, plastic devices to cover electrical outlets, pads for sharp corners, child-proof medicine bottles, the list goes on.

And in fact, we passed through well, with just the usual rounds of stitches, one violent dog attack, a rabies scare and a few months when my youngest fell so often and got so many bumps on his forehead that my husband and I joked someone was surely going to call child services on us.

Now, though, my youngest is 14, and as they’ve grown, I recognize my job has been transformed. It is to give them trust and space so they can develop confidence in their ability to make their own lives. And yet the two oldest, at ages 19 and 20, are in a period of time that seems almost like a parentheses in their lives. They are certainly not children, but nor are they quite adults. Meanwhile, I say and think all the usual things parents have been saying and thinking since—well, perhaps ever since Cicero, whose words I keep taped to my office wall: it’s rougher out there than it was in my time. More chaotic. More violent. More dangerous.

And everyone is writing a book.

It was, in fact, into my latest novel, 31 Hours, that I channeled my fears. Among other things, the novel offered a chance to explore what it means to be the parent of someone on the cusp of adulthood but not yet there. The mother in 31 Hours, Carol, is strong and independent, free of empty nest syndrome, but her maternal intuition is strong and she’s concerned about her 21-year-old son’s growing emotional distance, the way he seems tense and depressed. Her fears are amorphous and hard to convey; nevertheless, as she lies awake in the dark, she decides to trust the hunch that something is wrong, and to spend the next day trying to track her son Jonas down and “mother him until he shrugs her off.”

There are many themes in the novel, but one question it asks—one pertinent to all parents and one I’m still trying to answer for myself—is this: after years of being vigilant and protecting our kids, what should we do—and what are we allowed to do—to keep them safe once they are nearly, but not quite, grown?

PBS Kid Sprout is partnered with Pajama Program to deliver new cozy PJs and new bedtime books to children in need. Their goal is to reach 75,000 kids in the first year of the Great Tuck-In by October 1st. Sprout is also matching each donation.

This is a great opportunity for your children, nieces, nephews, cousins, grandchildren, any child you interact with to get involved with a great organization. Not only will they learn about giving and helping, they will remember this experience as special moments of spending time with their loved ones while helping others.

SERENA WILLIAMS will appear on these upcoming shows next week to promote ON THE LINE:


Good Morning America on 9/15

Live with Regis & Kelly on 9/16

The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on 11/10 Tyra Banks Show on 9/15 Your World with Neil Cavuto/Fox News Channel on 9/14 On the Record with Greta Van Sustren/Fox News Channel on 9/14 Martha Stewart Show on 9/16



ON THE LINE is also scheduled for coverage in print in:

Reader’s Digest – featured in September issue.

Vogue – featured in September issue.

Self – featured in September issue.

Heart & Soul – short excerpt to run in Oct/Nov issue.

Glamour – featured in “Women of the Year” issue in December.

Allure – featured in September issue.



SERENA will be signing books next week at:

Barnes & Noble/NYC (Fifth Avenue) – 9/16 Borders/Tampa – 9/17

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