What Our Children Teach Us, by Piero Ferrucci (psychology)

As parents, what do children bring to us? Often we see ourselves as forming our progeny as artists sculpting a statue from marble. We impart our desires and vision onto a blank canvas and produce what we desire. Ferrucci asks us to reconsider this singular mindset, to realize that we should learn to regard children as teachers, not automatons to be programmed with our instructions. Our children can can hold our hands and show us the art of living, giving us a pure perspective that we have lost with age and experience. Children are mirrors, we can see our reflections in them and we gain a unique chance to study ourselves. Parenting is not a burden, but a chance for parents to grow up again and transform themselves. Through actively listening to and engaging with our children’s contemplation of the world and their observations on life, we can learn to live in the present and gain new insights both into ourselves and our children.