So how do we navigate changes that occur within our families? Many times we withdraw into ourselves or become angry and the relationship stalls. How many people do you know who are estranged from family members over situations that went out of control. How often does this occur in our daily lives with people we know? This difference is that our family members should be more important to us. We should be willing to put in more time and effort to heal these relationships. I hear from so many parents that their relationship with their children is not how they imagined. This could result from the fact that when children are young, parents are parents. However the parent – child relationship changes as children grow and believe they are on more equal footing with their parents. Because of this, we as children need to be more flexible in transitioning the relationships with our parents to help them understand that we’re not really children anymore. I’m not sure they have the ability to see us as anything different. Even in my 30’s, my mother called me her “baby” even though I was an educated, responsible, young woman. She was proud of my accomplishments. And to the day she was buried, friends and family members knew me as the “baby of the family”.
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