Thursday, March 28, 2013

The Real Purpose of Parenting | Maria Shriver | Home for Architects of Change

The Real Purpose of Parenting | Maria Shriver | Home for Architects of Change:




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The Real Purpose of Parenting


As a child, I remember always thinking, “What was wrong with me?” I was born with scoliosis (curvature of the spine) with my head resting directly on my right shoulder.
Although I felt the love and commitment from my parents, I also experienced what the stress of my curvature had on them.
My parents did everything they could to help me “look” like everyone else, believing that would result in me feeling “like” everyone else.
My difficulty was that my parents premise was incorrect. I did, indeed, feel like everyone else and felt judgment by their agenda for me.
When I first became a parent, I remember thinking, “Oh my God, now I understand why my parents behaved the way they did!”
As a father, I often struggled with finding a way to reconcile “my picture” for my children and their own view of themselves.
I certainly didn't want my children to experience what I went through growing up. My