|
the night sky |
We absolutely never stop parenting, do we? I remember the first time that I felt this giant child envy. A close friend was installing a car seat in her car for her soon to be baby and I went into utter despair. I remember feeling that this will never happen to me. I also remember having lots of talks with Therapist friends and colleagues about the ethics of counseling parenting when you weren't a parent. Of course, there is no clear cut answer but I did know for sure that I did not really know about the truth about parenting. I had never had the heart ache or the heart love of my own child. I had never gone through the night waking up every hour because they were sick and you were nervous about sleeping too deeply. I had never had to deal with a real live tantrum in a supermarket where you simply want to disappear through the meat counter and never go shopping again.
Now we have two grown children and we are still worried about their safety and health. Our youngest daughter had a serious throat infection and high fever over the weekend. We had to go to the medical emergency center late last night and I was really worried about her. . Now, I can trust a little more that things will be all right . I know that my mother at 86 still gets a catch in her voice when I tell her that I have been ill. Parenting has both a light and shadow side to it. As parents, we prefer the light and the joy but the shadow brings us together more powerfully.
No comments:
Post a Comment