Wisdom from the Recliner
How Not To Solve Your Kids’ Problems with Infinite Wisdom and Platitudes
If you’re lucky, wisdom blindsides you from the recliner
Like most parents, being a parent is my favorite role in life — that is until it isn’t.
By nature, I’m a problem solver. Isn’t that a primary parental role? We pretend to have solutions to our kids' problems when actually, we’re winging it. Winging it is a specialty of mine.
When my then-teenaged offspring was dealing with a crisis of any kind I couldn’t help myself. I’d size up the situation, often without the benefit of insight from said offspring, and offer my best infinite wisdom, whether asked or not. Infinite wisdom that’s taken me years to accumulate and, if you ask me, should be heeded.
Of course, like every parent, I know that’s absurd.
I also know that sometimes we parents just don’t know what to say or do when our kids are hurting. That’s the worst. Watching your child slip into a depressive spiral and having no clue how to help. It’s those times when I wish I really did have Infinite Wisdom.
One especially troubling episode had my then-teenager spiraling hard into a depressed state. I was beside myself. How could I, the Mom…
