How to be a cultured Mom

By Elizabeth Smith

"Culture” was always one of those difficult terms to define in grade school because it's so all-encompassing that you don't know how to rein it in with words. It’s – well – everything. But now we know that becoming a cultured person is about more than being well-rounded for the sake of having no edges. The word could very well be synonymous with “open-minded,” meaning you’re not fully settled into one way of thinking but are willing to hear someone else’s thoughts. So put away what you think you know and discover what you didn’t know you were missing, whether it’s listening to multiple music genres, watching a stage production, visiting a museum or your own bookshelf.

For this Mother’s Day season, make a point to seek out things that will not only enrich your life but that you can share with your own children. And no need to travel the world to be cultured, because in the thriving metropolis of Dallas-Fort Worth, we live in the center of a cultural hub with so much available right here at our fingertips. We know you’re a busy woman, so we’ve made it easy for you by gathering expert sources for advice on how to get started. ­. .

10 classic novels you've never read

1 / Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert
2 / Middlemarch by George Eliot
3 / The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
4 / The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy
5 / The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
6 / To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
7 / Bleak House by Charles Dickens
8 / Benito Cereno by Herman Melville
9 / Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce
10 / Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner

— Dr. Nina Schwartz, chair of the English Department, and English faculty members at Southern Methodist University

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