My mom told me a story last night.  About a small failure of hers–and when I say small, I mean small.  Of course, she knew it wasn’t a failure.  There’s no such thing, really.  There are moments of murkiness that turn into clarity, and these are the very moments that teach us the most.

Thank you, Mom, for sharing.  It meant the world to me.  I want to do the same for Liliana.

Then I found these words of wisdom this morning, from a small volume I’ve been reading…The Parent’s Tao Te Ching: Ancient Advice for Modern Parents by William Martin.

Your Greatest Legacy

If you want your children to succeed,
show them how to fail.
If you want them to be happy,
show them how to be sad.
If you want them to be healthy,
show them how to be sick.
If you want them to have much,
show them how to enjoy little.
Parents who hide failure, deny loss,
and berate themselves for weakness,
have nothing to teach their children.
But parents who reveal themselves,
in all of their humanness,
become heroes.
For children look to these parents
and learn to love themselves.

Parenting need not be a burden,
one more thing you have to do
and don’t do well enough.
Instead consider your failures,
your sorrows,
your illnesses,
and your difficulties
as your primary teaching opportunities.

*    *    *

Isn’t that wonderful…and so hard to do?  Let’s do it today, shall we?…together?