When The Child Becomes The Parent

It's funny the relationship between a mother and a child isn't it? The mother tends to her child from the day she first finds out she's pregnant - nourishing, caring & of course worrying. During the subsequent formative years she continues to put her child's needs before hers rarely ever looking back and rarely regretting the sacrifices she made. So much so that even when she's reached the stage where getting through life becomes a Herculean effort, she still wants to be the carer in the relationship, the dependable one, the strong one. Yet at the same time you, as the child, can see the vulnerability, the sense of hopelessness and that never ending guilt in your mother as a result of her needing you. That's the moment where you, the child, become the parent. The one who will set aside the need to be held and instead be the one to hold. The one who will not shed tears and instead be the one to wipe them away. The one who will comfort and spoil, the one who will make sure all vitamins are taken on time, the one who will put fears to rest. 


Being a mother to your children is a hard job but being a mother to your mother is even harder.


~S~