I’m having frequent poignant memories of childhood – sparked by Parker’s age and where she is in her life. Equating it to where I was at her age in my life. My parents’ divorce. My loneliness. So much solitude. I think about the photos – one of me popping through the fence at Faneuil Market – or petting grandma’s cat in the sunshine. Innocence. Simple, trusting world. Longing.
I know I need to cultivate more self-reliance and independence in Parker. But I find it so hard to encourage her to play alone when I know she really craves company. It’s hard not only because we didn’t ‘give her’ a sibling, but I’m realizing more and more now that it’s because I was so often so lonely as a kid, and I don’t want her to feel that.
