This story is tickling something at the back of my mind...another story that I read or heard about parent's that were in love to the exclusion of their children. But I can't place it...
Anyway, my point is that I think it is good for children to see love, but that they feel included in that love. I can't really tell if you're saying that you were or you weren't...I infer from the naughty Dr.'s wife, that she thought you weren't.
Regardless, I enjoyed this very much.
Just fascinating.
I have often thought about the children from blindly, all encompassing happy marriages. My first love was one such child, and his parents, like yours, used to regard their children as minor - sometimes to the point of being inconsequential - strings to their major symphony.
Yes, of course, it is good for children to see that their parents love each other Bob, but I have seen, as with my first love, how frustrating this can be. Interestingly his parents – still together, still in love – now treat their grand children with much the same long-armed affection.
If my older 2 little blighters see us kiss or hug they yell:
Euuuurch, gross. GET A ROOM.
Can't wait for the next installment. I have a feeling court might come into it.
The title "Geometry": is that referring to your parents as well? Maybe they made up a tight little circle that didn't have room for the rest of you in it? Or maybe we'll find out in the next post...
Actually, Deirdre, I'd only thought in term of line and triangle - but in fact circle fits here very nicely too. I think the circle included us; but got distressed - if a circle can! - where we didn't fit it. And yes of course, Bob, it's better to be brought up within a loving relationship - rather than a dysfunctional one. I'm grateful to have observed theirs as I did. And they certainly loved us all a lot and believed they were including us. I think though that their individual griefs/problems did impact on us somewhat. We couldn't make up for all that, which maybe unconsciously they hoped we could. All of us young had problems as adults - the marriages of the three eldest came and went. This entirely baffled my father. What did I do wrong? he said. He didn't do anything wrong - if he was out of sync in some things that was just how he was. But I think it's true that not just the sins but still more the griefs of the fathers get visited onto the children. I'm writing more about this. And there was an awful lot of grief hiding in there; maybe not more of it than with many. But more than enough.
My kids didn't like displays of adult affection either - maybe a little bit because it does exclude them!
hmmm, I think it's an innate animal instinct:
If those two people who made me have another baby then there will be less for me.
Looking forward to more from you.
Commenting by HaloScan
