Mindy Smith

“Oh, I’m sorry!” he said. “I just fell out of the sky. I constructed a helicopter in midair, burst into flames halfway down, crash-landed, and barely survived. But by all means—let’s talk about your dining table!”
― Rick Riordan, The House of Hades

“Give school-aged children control and autonomy over where, when, and how they complete their schoolwork and let them make choices about the other important aspects of their lives such as friends, chores, and sports, subjects we’ll address in later chapters. Establish nonnegotiable expectations, such as “Homework will be completed thoroughly and on time,” or “Curfew is at ten and I expect you to be here or call if something comes up.” After those expectations are made clear, older children should be allowed the autonomy to figure out the precise manner and strategy they will use in order to fulfill these expectations. As long as your expectation is that homework will be completed thoroughly, and on time, where, when, and how they complete their homework should be up to them.”
― Jessica Lahey, The Gift of Failure: How the Best Parents Learn to Let Go So Their Children Can Succeed

“They fit him so well, Leo wondered how she’d gotten his measurements. Maybe she just used her generic pattern for SCRAWNY MALE.”
― Rick Riordan, The House of Hades

“Percy: “Hey, how’s it going?” Annabeth: “Uh, no thanks.” Percy: “Okay…have you eaten anything today?” Annabeth: “I think Leo is on duty. Ask him.” Percy: “So, my hair is on fire.” Annabeth: “Okay. In a while.”
― Rick Riordan, The Mark of Athena