PARENTING & WISDOM
Parenting and Wisdom
The transforming nature of parenthood
Having children makes you no more a parent than having a piano makes you a pianist.”
― Michael Levine
Recently I had a dream that my kids’ biological mother came to find them. It isn't such an odd dream to have, an anxiety dream no doubt about something I thought I’d dealt with long ago.
But it sparked a thought I think every adopted parent has, but if they are anything like me, dismiss too quickly: What makes a parent? Partly because she, in this dream and no doubt in real life, had only a shadow of parenthood. But also partly because the feelings it brought up in me are both unique and very hard to put words to. Fear-anger-pity-compassion-dissapointment-sadness? I'm sure there’s a word in another language.
For me parenting certainly isn't procreation. Parenting can come from not just adopted parents and foster carers, but from aunts and uncles, friends of the family or god/guide parents. And then my mind, due to my interests in researching wisdom, went to how all the things most worth knowing are learnt:
- Do different things
- Pay attention
- Reflect on how it went
- Do more different things
