The Nature Of Parenthood

Ode on the Whole Duty of Parents

The spirits of children are remote and wise,
They must go free
Like fishes in the sea
Or starlings in the skies,
Whilst you remain
The shore where casually they come again.
But when there falls the stalking shade of fear,
You must be suddenly near,
You, the unstable, must become a tree
In whose unending heights of flowering green
Hangs every fruit that grows, with silver bells;
Where heart-distracting magic birds are seen
And all the things a fairy-story tells;
Though still you should possess
Roots that go deep in ordinary earth,
And strong consoling bark
To love and to caress.

Last, when at dark
Safe on the pillow lies an up-gazing head
And drinking holy eyes
Are fixed on you,
When, from behind them, questions come to birth
Insistently,
On all the things that you have ever said
Of suns and snakes and parallelograms and flies,
And whether these are true,
Then for a while you'll need to be no more
That sheltering shore
Or legendary tree in safety spread,
No, then you must put on
The robes of Solomon,
Or simply be
Sir Isaac Newton sitting on the bed.

by Frances Cornford

I recently read an article about the healing powers of simplifying a child's life.

It spoke to the undisciplined pursuit of more that Greg McKeown believes lies at the core of failure and the value of constraint in a world brimming with options.

Modern life in America often lays siege to the sacred space, the wildness, the uncluttered and aimless time we humans need to flourish. 

In this new cultural context, boundaries become all the more important-- protecting us and ours from a constant undertow of distraction and obligation.