halrunkel
“My obstetrician was so dumb that when I gave birth, he forgot to cut the cord. For a year that kid followed me everywhere. It was like having a dog on a leash.” (Joan Rivers)
Jenny here. Crude? Sure. What else do you expect from the red-carpet ripper? But that doesn’t make it any less insightful. That first year, having a baby is a bit like the scenario above – and it is supposed to be.
Human infants are the most helpless of all mammals and they need us for just about everything. This dependence, albeit necessary, can be very tiresome and heavy. The good news is that each day these little ones get more and more capable. The bad news is that some of us don’t like that fact.
Cutting the cord doesn’t just happen at the hospital. It’s an ongoing process that must be done on a daily basis. Allowing your children to grow up takes quite a bit of restraint on our part. It’s nice to be needed. But our kids deserve more than that from us.
They need to taste freedom and responsibility. It’s the only way that your relationship will ever grow past the need for a leash.
Peace begins with a pause,
Jenny
