The little fig tree didn’t send out new branches anymore, just small bright green leaves once in a while.

“Why don’t you repot it?” a friend asked. “It needs space. The roots are all crowded in that small pot, and it’s not getting enough nourishment.”

“I don’t want it to grow any bigger,” her friend replied. “When they can, they grow too large and then you have to tend to them, cut them back, shape them. It is content there in its own small space.”

Some people raise their children like that.