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Archives for August 2012

The Art of “Not” Mothering

By Gay Barefield Leave a Comment Aug 19

“A mother’s love liberates”.~ Maya Angelou

I have 2 grown daughters, 39 and 34, who are beautiful adults and whom I love dearly. The other day I realized that although my daughters will always be my “kids” I could actually stop mothering them.

Okay this is where I lose those of you who still have small children under your roof. Might I suggest that you stick around to hear all of this because one day you too will want to stop mothering.

Here’s what I mean by my not mothering idea; you spend all of your child’s growing up years pumping all of your wisdom and worldliness into their wonderful little brains. You teach them everything you know and what you don’t know you send them to school to learn. Then they leave your house full of all that awesome knowledge that they can access at any given moment.

You reiterate all of your wisdom and knowledge again for the next few years as your adult children make their way into the world. Then all of a sudden you can’t stop doing it, every time you talk to them you are giving them the same advice repeatedly.

Ask yourself right now how often when you talk to your own mother does she tell you what to do and how to achieve it regardless of how old you are?

For me it became very clear that the greatest gift I could give my girls was the gift of shutting up and only handing out advice and opinions when they asked for them.

How does this improve your relationship with your adult child?

It will transform the child/parent relationship into an adult/adult relationship which is what we as parents work so hard to achieve. Then by turning off the “words of the wise” recording you launch into every time you have a conversation with them, you allow them to ask for your wisdom and knowledge. This gives them the ability to truly listen and appreciate the value of your words instead of hearing “Blah, Blah, Blah.”

Is this an easy transition? No, it’s not but here are a few steps to help you along the way.

    • Tell your adult children what you are trying to do for them: Reassure them that you are not disinterested in their lives or have stopped caring just that you think they are smart, wonderful adults who have all of  your wisdom instilled in them.
    • Let them know that you will still share your wisdom and opinions: Only when asked and that you always enjoy sharing.
    • Reassure them that you will always be there if needed: You are still their mother and will always be there to nurture and listen.

The art of “not” mothering has allowed me to enjoy the freedom of listening to my children without interjecting my wisdom or opinions. I have also freed up my life to move in a direction that resonates more for me!

What about you? I would love to hear your comments and wisdom on this “not” mothering suggestion. Also if you decide to try this in your life I would love to hear the positive things that happen with you and your adult children.

 

photo credit: Robert Whitehead via photo pin cc

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