Recently, at a Black Tie Dinner at the Waterfront I sat next to a very wise man who was great company for the evening. He noted that my wife was pregnant soon parenthood so came into the conversation. When I asked him for one piece of parenting advice for a novice like me he thought for a while and then replied "Love them unconditionally". It was great advice which I've reflected upon many times afterwards.
At the end of the evening we swapped business cards. Last week I popped him an email with news about Alicia. He replied as follows :
I like the singer Marc Cohn's words
"The Things We've Handed Down" (Marc Cohn)
Don't know much about you Don't know who you are ...
We've been doing fine without you
But, we could only go so far
Don't know why you chose us
Were you watching from above
Is there someone there that knows us
Said we'd give you all our love
Will you laugh just like your mother
Will you sigh like your old man
Will some things skip a generation
Like I've heard they often can
Are you a poet or a dancer
A devil or a clown
Or a strange new combination of
The things we've handed down
I wonder who you'll look like
Will your hair fall down and curl
Will you be a mama's pet
Or daddy's little girl
Will you be a sad reminder
Of what's been lost along the way
Maybe you can help me find her
In the things you do and say
And these things that we have given you
They are not so easily found
But you can thank us later
For the things we've handed down
Wise and moving words indeed BUT you can spoil and ruin them. From Approved school experience many years ago we found that it was a three way split ie spoilt, keyhole kids or mentally challenged in some way.
ReplyDeleteIt's a very challenging decision! I'm sure you will do it. But if somewhere in the middle you will feel that it's enough, just stop it and run back to me and Alicia! We need your energy ;-)
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