Midsummer 2010 - It's Her Story
Dear Friends
Recently a friend was telling me about some 'interesting' choices her grown daughter had made. Instead of a 'WHAT was she thinking???!' judgment fest, our conversation took a 360-degree turn when this grace and wisdom came from my friend's lips: 'Oh, well; it's her story!'
As a seasoned parent, this concept was not new to me, yet I felt a renewed sense of clarity when my friend worded it this way. I first experienced this revelation 18 years ago when my daughter Kathryn was born with profound disabilities. I wondered if I would ever get over the grief, but Kathryn's father pointed out that I was not disabled. Without underestimating the role of parenthood, he reminded me that I still had my own life -- separate from our daughter's.
When our babies depend upon us for their very survival, the thought of them as separate entities is so difficult to grasp. We may even have visions of them growing up to be little extensions of ourselves. And who hasn't at one time or another felt that ego-driven delight when our child appears to be a 'chip off the old block'? The truth remains, however, that each child comes into the world the author of his or her own story, separate from us.
When my older daughter, Ann, who is now a mother herself, recently told me about one of her 'interesting' choices, prefacing her announcement with, 'Mom, tomorrow I’m doing something you’re not going to be happy with,' do you think I thought, 'Oh well; it's her story'? Ha! Within seconds, I was spewing out the 'Mark my words, Ann . . .' spiel. Sigh.
I flash back to when I was a young mom, and we'd spend summer vacations with the girls' great grandmother. This woman was a pediatric nurse in the 1920s, so you can imagine some of our conversations: 'You're going to SPOIL her if you're always holding her!' 'You're only feeding her breast milk? Rice cereal is what she needs!'
Maybe George Orwell was right when he said, 'Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.' But how does this benefit us really? As mothers, must we continue to pass on this torch of 'My way or the highway'? Is being 'right' worth the toll it takes on our relationships?
This summer, whether you're a mother or a daughter, a father or a son (or combination thereof!), let's not be so quick to point fingers of judgment at each other. The next time we feel ourselves bristling with those 'How could she?!' feelings, let's replace them with the realization that 'It's her story' as we do our best to live our own with grace, wisdom, and gratitude for family.
On Children
by Kahil Gibran
'They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you, yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts.
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls.'
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