CMP Review 2026-02-03

February 3, 2026

From time to time I tell people that I will probably have a good handle on parenting by the time my youngest child has finally grown up. What I of course mean by that is so much of parenting is learned by experience. Or more specifically, so much of parenting is learned from our mistakes.

Sometimes I wish I could pass my experiences on to others so they could avoid the mistakes I’ve made. I’m not the only one who has wanted to do so. One notable example is Mrs. H. C. Cradock, author of books on child-rearing as well as books for children to read.

But Mrs. Cradock identified the problem: “To give advice, unasked, to a young mother, is a hazardous undertaking.”

And she identified the solution: to write an article, so the young mother “knows that [the advice] is not meant specially for her.” So she can receive it without getting defensive.

“I am old enough now to look back and see what mistakes I have made,” wrote Mrs. Cradock, “and yet young enough to remember vividly my own youth, and humbly to hope that I am still able to keep in touch with young lives to-day.” And so she gave her advice unasked.

The year was 1918 and the article impressed Charlotte Mason enough to include it in the Parents’ Review. So let’s let down our defenses and hear what Mrs. Cradock has to say as she answers the question, “If I Could Begin Again…”

Read or hear it here.

@artmiddlekauff