Allow what you encourage in your children, to encourage you. By, Kimberly Evans

Let me say, right off, that my mother is amazing!!!!! She is strong, and smart, and beautiful, and kind, and generous, and funny, and interesting, and all good things. I love her with all of my heart, and I have no ill feelings toward her at all. 

                                                              Picture, by Mary Cassatt


You would expect a but next, and yet, (see what I did there?), there is no but. What there is, is an understanding that, although she is, and has always been those things, she was not the kind of mother I needed when I was young. That is neither her fault, or of any concern to her. I am now a 45 year old woman, who has learned to love her where she is at, and to give myself the love, and nurturing I need. That did not happen over night. I read books, and went to counseling, and I meditated, and I got healthy relationships. I worked at it. It did not "just happen". 

Recently, I have learned how to do this even more, through watching how my daughter responds to the love, and support, and guidance, and nurturing I provide. On our way to her dance class today, I was telling her, again, how many talents she has. She is an incredible singer, an amazingly creative, and versatile artist, with a unique set of insights. She is a beautiful dancer, and she is humble about all of this. But, if I was not cultivating this, perhaps her story would be different. I thought, if I had been my own mother, I would have been a more self assured, confident, happy person, at a younger age. But, I am "my own mother" now, so I am watching myself blossom into a very healthy, and talented adult. 

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