The Lebanese poet and novelist Kahil Gibran (1883-1931) wrote some wise advice to parents about their children. The following Quotes are from his book "The Prophet"
Your children are not your children.
They are life's longing for itself
They live in the house of tomorrow
which you cannot visit
not even in your dreams.
It would be so much easier to be compatible with our children,if they were carbon copies of us. If their values were the same and their interests were like ours, we could more easily understand and communicate with them.
Unfortunately, relationships between parents and children are not quite that uncomplicated. Each child, who is allowed to discover his own self-identity, views the world in his own way, and we, as parents, must treat them, like any other relationship in our lives, with respect. If ,however, an adult son or daughter has very different views, it is often very difficult to allow them to follow the dictates of their own nature without reproach. This is especially difficult if we are worried that they may make some serious mistakes, but adult children must be allowed to make their choices, live their lives, even make their mistakes and still find parents who will be there to give them emotional help, if needed. A parents role is to be emotionally available and an adult childs role is to eventually become a happy, strong, loving individual.
The relationship between parents and their adult children is a constantly changing and growing bond which hopefully will grow stronger and more loving with the years as both parents and their children continue to work on their relationship and try to make it more understanding and more fulfilling.
