Mother's Day

On Children
  ~Kahlil Gibran

Your children are not your children.
They are the sons and daughters of Life's longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow,
which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them,
but seek not to make them like you.
For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
You are the bows from which your children
as living arrows are sent forth.
The archer sees the mark upon the path of the infinite,
and He bends you with His might
that His arrows may go swift and far.
Let your bending in the archer's hand be for gladness;
For even as He loves the arrow that flies,
so He loves also the bow that is stable.

These are the truest sentiments on what nurturing children really look like to me.  If you want to be a good mother, know that you are not creating or controlling your children, but that you are granting them space to discover all of the goodness and kindness that they already are.  For we are meant to be stewards over our children, not makers.  Remind your children that who they are, and the way that they love you is why it is such a joy to be a mother in the first place.

Happy Mother's Day! 


(This is also a beautiful, and very real rendition of motherhood.)