Rule #5. "The children's fingernails will be kept trim, not to extend more than 0.5 cm from the cuticle corner."
Rachel's dad thinks that by being a firm disciplinarian with clear and detailed catalogue of grooming, curfew, and extracurricular minutiae he will raise happy and well adjusted children.
And that "FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THESE TEAM RULES WILL RESULT IN PUNISHMENT AS FOLLOWS: THE CHILD WILL NOT ATTEND ANY ACTIVITIES DURING THE ENTIRE NEXT WEEKEND REGARDLESS OF THE TYPE OF ACTIVITY."(Caps his) will win him their undying respect.
Wow. Okay there dad - take it easy.
The rest of Rachel's story carries on in this emotionally harsh vein. If there's anything I've learned about parenting it's that it is not a perfect science and that anyone trying to make it so is doomed to fail. Where is this dad's up-right and flexible back bone? It seems he was so afraid that his daughters would turn out to be *gasp* fallible that he forsook any kind of connection at all unless it was robotically perfect and scripted. What a sorry and delusional man. He could have had so much if only he had gotten out of his own way.
Ms Sontag, on the other hand, has hopefully found some peace in writing this very heartfelt and moving book.
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