children are tough

Children are tough, though we tend to think of them as fragile. They have to be tough. Childhood is not easy. We sentimentalize children, but they know what's real and what's not. They understand metaphor and symbol. If children are different from us, they are more spontaneous. Grown-up lives have become overlaid with dross.

Maurice Sendak, The Paternal Pride Of Maurice Sendak By Bernard Holland. New York Times. November 08, 1987