Some things in life seem way too normal to be seen as special. To be seen as incomparable. To be seen as something you could actually never live without. And that's only because we are so damn lucky to just be used to them. The thing I am talking about is family. Parents. It's parents that care and never stop caring no matter how old you are.
I still remember that when I was a child I could never ever possibly imagine that I (as a person) would ever work without my parents. One part of me certainly felt that way because I still am and will always be just a little bit too childish :) The other part is, that I can be very sentimental - pregnancy wise or not. So since Smilla came into our lives I wonder how it must have been for our parents, to give us wings, to see us grow, to see us fly and sometimes fall. When all you ever really want is safety and protection for your child. How do we grow into parents that give their kids roots and wings at the same time?
How dare we (back then) to not be home in time when we spend the first nights out clubbing?
Being a parent immediately puts me into the position where I can reproduce how it must have felt like to be worried. To be worried about the people that simply mean the world to you.
So even now, with Smilla being just 2 years old I realize how I start developing those habits about fearing certain things. How I already need to get myself together to let her do her thing, let her make her own experiences and (most difficult of all) trying to be a little less overprotective if there are little dudes that feel like it would be very appropriate to strike around with watering cans and pull hair.
Truth is, that it will be good for her sooner or later. It's good for her to realize that there will always be people that won't have the best things in mind. And then I hope she will be brave enough to stand up for herself. To raise her voice if things go wrong. To protect herself when we can not be around and when it's our turn to step back as parents and let her be a self-contained person, no matter which age she has.
So in retrospective I need to thank my parents for always being those supportive people they still are and simply giving me the freedom to be me. At any point in my life.
I hope, little Smilla, we will always be able to deepen your roots whenever you feel like you are loosing ground. But more important: I hope we will always be able to support you in living your dreams, to increase the power of believing into yourself and and giving you faith that you can achieve anything, if you truly want it.
