Monday, October 16, 2006

Where we are going is someplace we've been...

Here's a great poem from Jean Wyrick "Poem for an Inked Daughter."

I wanted to share this with you because...it resonated in me. Not that I have a teenaged daughter showing up to dinner with dragons inked on her shoulder...nor did my mother care about my outrageous (and ugly) earrings when I was a kid. But we've all done it, looked into the eyes of these children and seen our own peering back at us with the same fears, defiance, frustration, and oh, yes...our very own humor staring us down and challenging us.

Remember that when you respond my friends. The best parenting advice I've ever read was "be the kind of parent you wished you had." If you take that on the surface, well that could be dangerous, I suppose, because we all probably wanted rich, famous and very lenient parents. But deeply...what did you want your mom to say when you were hurt? What might dad have missed that he shouldn't have missed? In the stillness of your heart, the answer to the kind of parent you want to be is the kind of parent you wished you'd had. And if you had that kind of parent...your kids are doubly blessed, because you got a mentorship.

Peace.
Ei

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, loved it. I see it already, though mine's only 7. I'm saving this poem...and may write my own, too... Thanks for sharing.
-Christie

Anonymous said...

Yep, mine are 10 and 6, but it's coming. And I was there...peircing my ears more times than Mom approved of, dating guys she didn't care for...but if I can handle it all with the same grace and patience she did, well...I can only hope.

Thanks for posting this, Ei.

Yes, I did.


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