Your Children are not Your Children
They are the sons and daughters of life’s longing for itself.
They come through you but not from you,
And though they are with you yet they belong not to you.
You may give them your love but not your thoughts,
For they have their own thoughts.
You may house their bodies but not their souls,
For their souls dwell in the house of tomorrow, which you cannot visit, not even in your dreams.
You may strive to be like them, but seek not to make them like you. For life goes not backward nor tarries with yesterday.
© Kahlil Gibran, 1923, 1973.
Found in Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet
This poem embodies and expresses the best that I can say about my three sons, David, Adam, and Simon. A million minutes and activities and strivings to be a good mom could be boiled down into these words. And the struggles, joys, birthday parties, schools, music lessons, games, beach trips, gardens, meals, and conversations are mysteriously captured in my one favorite photo of them.

My heart’s gratitude for getting to be their mom goes further than all the miles of trails I’ve walked, numbers more than all the trillium blooming in the spring, all the meteors flashing across the sky. They have brought me the unparalleled opportunity to experience the physical, emotional, and spiritual journey of being a mom, of being THEIR mom!
Thanks!