Family Matters

By Deborah L. Cohen

Landover Hills, Md.

Playing on the floor of her family's two-bedroom apartment, 6-year-old Emerald Gonzalez looks pleased with herself as she runs her hands over her freshly plaited hair. "Only five more to go," she says, fingering the plaits that don't already have barrettes on them. Searching for missing ones, she rifles through a potted plant on the living-room floor, strewing leaves in a circle on the rug.

When her mother, Ingrid, emerges from the kitchen, she spies Emerald amid the scattered leaves and scolds her. "Why are you messing up the plant like that? Clean that up...