Explore the complex relationship between parents and children, highlighting how fantasies can overshadow their individuality. Delve into Joan Didion’s poignant reflection on grief and the challenges of parenting. The discussion encourages self-reflection on the regrets we may hold as our children carve out their unique paths. It’s a thought-provoking dive into the illusions of control and the need to embrace our children’s authentic selves.
“Only later,” Joan Didion wrote of her daughter, “did I see that I had been raising her as a doll.” Grieving, heart broken over the sudden and tragic loss of her family (detailed in the moving books A Year of Magical Thinking and Blue Nights), she was almost certainly being too hard on herself, yet…