There are several watershed moments in the relationship between parents and young children: when they let go and walk on their own, when they learn to say “no,” when they get frustrated enough to yell “I hate you,” an
d when they decide for the first time that they are outta here because no one appreciates them. I truly think the ways parents handle these moments indelibly define the new relationship created by them. I am not claiming to know the right way to navigate these situations, just that I have seen them play out numerous times in my history as both child and parent. And the memories endure. So far, each of my kids has reached an age where they get just enough comfort with the idea of independence that they pack their precious stuff (different for each child) and make big public pronouncements about hitting the open road…alone…forever…really….never coming back….don’t try to stop them. That is a big parenting crossroads--do you RSVP “no, thank you” to their pity party or do you make your own pronouncements of eternal vigilance in retrieving them? Or something in between? I suppose that depends on the parent, and the child. The mother rabbit in Margaret Wise Brown’s The Runaway Bunny opts for the wherever-you-go-I’ll-be approach, which ultimately seems to be the validation that baby rabbit was looking for (while insisting he wasn’t). I watched Nick read this proclamation of undying love to Scarlett and tried to enjoy the calm before the coming storm.http://www.margaretwisebrown.com/biography3.htm
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