I have nothing to say. I have vowed to write a weekly post and yet I find myself staring at the blank little box and now I am flummoxed. Issues with kids…issues with kids… hmmm. The trouble is, I have no real issues with my kids these days. I feel like their growing up is gathering momentum, like a ball rolling away from me downhill, and I am running behind to try and catch it before it speeds down the road by itself.
What is really preoccupying me these days is getting over myself and trying to give my children the freedom they need and deserve to make sure that ball keeps rolling. Because, as much as I want to grab on to them, hold them and never let go, I can’t. And plus, they would squirm. And I would be one of those annoying adults who is always making them suffer the indignity of being hugged and squeezed and pinched when they most definitely do not want to be hugged or squeezed or pinched (okay, I am already that mother. So sue me.)
I guess this post is dedicated to my kids growing up into great people. Don’t mistake me- I don’t really feel like it has anything to do with me. A little positive posting in my sea of pessimism. For example, on Mother’s day, we went to see the Imagine exhibit at the Musée des Beaux Arts, the one commemorating the famous televised “honeymoon” of John Lennon and Yoko Ono at the Queen Elizabeth hotel forty years ago. In the exhibit were several works of Yoko Ono, including a white chess set. My daughter asked if we could play it and I said yes. But then she looked more closely and said, “but both sides are white, mama. How do you play?”
She got it right away. I didn’t get it right away. I just looked at it and thought cool. Something I can touch. We then talked a little about it and I could see in her head she was equating the game of chess with war for the first time. From then it lead to the question “what if your enemy was the same as you? Would he still be your enemy?”
Sidenote- I really liked the exhibit. I liked many of Yoko Ono’s simple conceptual work that invited the viewer to participate in it. Okay. I liked being able to play with the art. But it made it a really rich rewarding experience to bring the kids too, one that actually made them think about the concept of peace. I hate to use this word, but I can’t think of a better one: it was a lovely experience. Subdued, thought provoking, and yes, peaceful.
Anyway. I am proud of my kids. They are turning out to be kind, smart individuals that I can’t wait to get to know more. That’s it. Nothing more to say today. Maybe next week I’ll feel more like whinging.
Lina Branter 