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.
– Kahlil Gibran
Symptoms of enmeshed parenting:
- Your children’s good or difficult behavior and successful or unsuccessful achievements define your worth.
- Your children are the center of your life – your purpose in life.
- Your focus is on taking care of your children rather than taking care of yourself.
- Your happiness or pain is determined by your children.
- You are invasive – you need to know everything about what your children think and do.