Her shoulders were hunched, legs curled up under her. The chair swiveled back and forth and the pencil in her hand tapped against the corner of the desk. Her eyes locked on something just above the computer screen.

And then the sigh. A long deep, discouraged sigh.

This was how I found my daughter the other evening as she was doing her homework. It was 10:15 pm. Late for her. She’s the child who learned in the 2nd grade that doing homework after 6pm is difficult. Her optimum time is at 5am. Now a high school student, she no longer has the luxury of closing the books at 6pm.

I pulled up a chair and asked if she needed a hug. She turned and looked at me and the tears spilled over and ran down her cheeks. My heart broke. I scooped her up, put her on my lap and rocked her.

Over the next 30 minutes we talked about her assignment and before long her fingers were humming across the keyboard again.

My daughter was able to rebound quickly, in part, because the assignment included work by my favorite author, Anna Quindlen. I think my animation and excitement for the subject revitalized her and suddenly the material she was struggling with, came alive and began to make sense in a very personal way. That’s one of the things that draws me to Quindlen’s writing.

I decided to pull up an article written by Quindlen last year titled, “A Teachable Moment.”

If you’ve never read her work before, I encourage you to take a few moments and read the article. If you like what you read, check out her new website and treat yourself to one of her books. You won’t be disappointed.