Granny's Advice

I am currently looking for this kind of advice on mothering, anything you would be willing to share would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you, Mother to be,

Dear Mother to be,

Almost too late for your meeting - but that is not an easy question. I had to let it mull around in my mind for a while.

We tend to dramatize the whole "mothering" thing - expect that just because we have borne a child we might know something special. And we also sometimes feel that our own mothers had some special knowledge as well.

The truth of the matter is that we are just ordinary people, little girls who have somehow grown up to have children of our own, with no special training and no experience. Everything we do with and for our children is experimental, and some of us are lucky and manage to do some of the right things. Isn't it nice that we tend to forget all the things we did wrong!

When we are children we know that everything our parents are doing is wrong. It isn't until we become parents ourselves that we suddenly remember that they were probably saints. Then we hearken back to the wonderfulness of our mothers. One of these days our children will feel the same way about us. Having survived all the terrible mistakes we have made, they will emerge as sensible adults and remember us as having had some special knowledge.

These are just random thoughts on mothering - a little bit of reality to balance all the wonderful contributions which will be made by the members of your group.

What a good topic you have. I hope you have a wonderful meeting.

Yours sincerely, GG