Sure, it's a slow process, but it's still happening before my very eyes. Just like all parents, always and forever, I guess.
It really was only yesterday when I held her out on the back deck, and we looked up at her star in the black of night and she sang:
Twinkle, twinkle little star
How I wonder what you are...
Up above the world so bright
Like a daya [dada] in the sky...
Wasn't it?
Last night, my wife and I had a rare disagreement over parenting. There was a show on tele, an in-depth magazine style show whose subject that week had attempted suicide by jumping off a very large bridge in our home city.
"What did she do?" asked our 8-year old.
"Went for a swim" I said. "Come on, let's go do something."
My first instinct, you see, was to protect my daughter from the harsh, sometimes brutal reality of the the world, even safe as we are here in Australia.
"No, I think it's good she's asking questions," said my wife, whose first instinct was to expose our daughter to a brutal reality so as to prepare her for an unknown future.
I eventually bundled our daughter off to bed (it was bedtime).
But now I'm thinking, surely, at the age of 8, when all your concerns are focussed on school friends and teaching your toys what you learnt at school that week (toy school), and how the tooth fairy must have been too busy to collect your tooth a week ago (but thankfully remembered the next night), surely that is too young to have to face the sometimes heartbreaking reality of the world.
Surely knowing about the loss of the arctic ice shelf and the polar bears is enough. Surely there's another year or two of fun and happiness, cuddles and looking forward to Christmas before the harsh white flouro bulbs of tv news and the darker side of social media combine to try to crush the simple and beautiful dreams of my little girl.
Photo by @drwom
@DrWom and #teamaustralia footers by the fabulous @ryivhnn
We have in common, I care my daughter to much. She's my only child, to be exact she's 1 3 mos. now
Enjoy
Such a wonderful, amazing journey
Daughter is just a little girl who grows up to be your best friend
nice :)
thanks 🙂
Upvoted and RESTEEMED :]
Thanks!
Awww. This makes me miss my Dad! :(
Thank you. That's a beautiful thing to say.
Our loved ones are so precious.
Sorry if that sounds a bit trite :-)
Absolutely!! I agree. Nothing more precious than the people who are ours.
I can imagine how hard it is to expose our kids to the brutal reality of what's going on to our planet. I have no idea how I'm gonna educate my kid (in case I have one). Probably I will just tell him/her positive stuff then the negative stuff during her teens maybe. I don't know. It's just me. :-D
That's kind of what I was thinking too - but apparently not my wife :-)
We'll have to work it out!
haha yes. Teamwork indeed. Compromise is the perfect word to describe it. :-)
Yep 😊
Parent always want to protect their kids, sure , that is natural! I can not imagine how spoil my girl if I have one in the further!
Yep, it's too easy!
So beautifully written. My eldest child is 7 years old. She is growing day by day and learning new things - good and bad - from her friends in school. We try to prepare her a bit about life like to be friends with everyone and not pick and choose but sometimes she succumbs to peer pressure. It's upsetting sometimes because I finally understand that as parents we need to prepare to let go. We can guide and teach them the good stuff but they are their own person and they make their own decisions.
Yes. Its exciting and scary at the same time 🌞
Your reasons are thoughtful. Children live their childhood once and with the digital age, the innocence and carefree reality of being a child oblivious to the dark side of life is so easily stolen from then. Why expose them so early when it will become part of their reality soon enough? When will they create an ideal world or believe in dreams and myths if not during their brief childhood? When will they laugh wholeheartedly and live carelessly if not during their childhood?
Thanks - yes, that is exactly how I feel 🌞
I love your way to describing
Resteemed 😊
Thank you 😊