Traditions are the guideposts driven deep in our subconscious minds. The most powerful ones are those we can't even describe, aren't even aware of.
Ellen GoodmanRead
The central struggle of parenthood is to let our hopes for our children outweigh our fears.
Interpretation
Parenthood involves balancing hopes and fears for our children.
Ellen Goodman highlights the essential challenge of being a parent: the necessity to prioritize our aspirations for our children over our anxieties. This quote underscores the idea that while fears about a child's future are natural, it is ultimately the hopes and dreams that should guide our actions and support for their growth and development.
In practice
During a parenting seminar, this quote can be used to inspire parental confidence.
Traditions are the guideposts driven deep in our subconscious minds. The most powerful ones are those we can't even describe, aren't even aware of.
This packrat has learned that what the next generation will value most is not what we owned, but the evidence of who we were and the tales of how we loved. In the end, it's the family stories that are worth the storage.
Parents remain our touchstones, fellow travelers, even after death. They are both missing and present.
What do I want to take home from my summer vacation? Time. The wonderful luxury of being at rest. The days when you shut down the mental machinery that keeps life on track and let life simply wander. The days when you stop planning, analyzing, thinking and just are. Summer is my period of grace.
My father used to say that if a man fools you once, he's a jerk. If he fools you twice, you're a jerk. Only he didn't use the word "jerk."
There's a trick to the Graceful Exit. It begins with the vision to recognize when a job, a life stage, a relationship is over - and to let go. It means leaving what's over without denying its validity or its past importance in our lives.
Our heroine knew that the mother would always leave the window open for her children to fly back by; so they stayed away for years and had a lovely time.
Let your children be as so many flowers, borrowed from God. If the flowers die or wither, thank God for a summer loan of them.
Your child is never not your child. You can be 90 and your mother 120, but your mother is still worried about you.
You parents of the wilful and the wayward! Don't give them up. Don't cast them off. They are not utterly lost. The Shepherd will find his sheep. They were His before they were yours - long before He entrusted them to your care; and you cannot begin to love them as He loves them.
My grandfather was a persuasive man who made friends with people at every level of influence. In order to fight against our tribe's termination, he went to newspapers and politicians and urged them to advocate for our tribe in Washington. He also supported his family through the Depression as a truck farmer.
Raising children, be aware that the piles and piles of laundry will disappear all too soon and that you will, to your surprise, miss them profoundly.
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